Revenge is Sweet and Best Served Cold!
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: The Rangers continue their search for the Ranger Keys with their new ally Orion. But an unseen threat promises to cause them more than a few headaches.
1. Chapter 1

**Legal:** I do not own Power Rangers, or the associated names, places, characters, events etc. Anything not associated with the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

**Rating: **T-There may be some adult themes and language.

The Rangers were gathered in the Red Galleon and taking some time to figure out their next move. In the few days since the mysterious new stranger, Orion had joined the team, and a team of Rangers had come back through time bringing a new Zord for them to use, they hadn't really had much chance to decompress. Of particular note, although Orion had been on the planet now for close to two weeks, the fact was that he wasn't FROM Earth, so they had no idea of the long-term issues that could arise from him being on the planet. Noah had made the case that while it was possible his physiology was superficially similar enough to human that so far he hadn't exhibited any ill effects, it was possible that long-term, Earth's environment might have an impact on his health, something they could ill afford now that it was clear he was going to be a part of the team. Since there had been no reports to indicate Lafitte or The Armada were making any moves, they decided to delay their search for more keys while they satisfied himself Orion wasn't taking any more risks than necessary.

Noah was working on some skin and blood samples, after Tensou had given him a full-body scan to compile data about his internal body structure. While they were waiting on the results, Jake, Emma, Gia and Troy were up on deck, putting him through his paces.

They already knew he was strong, and that he was fast, they had seen him in action enough times to know that, but it was difficult to tell on what scale without real testing. Emma watched as Jake held up a pad, connected to a computer, inviting Orion to hit it. Gia was sitting with her.

"We should have plenty of data soon." Gia told her as she put an arm around her friend. "The one thing that is obvious is he has plenty of stamina. He's been going for hours. Even I'm exhausted."

"I'm not sure it's his body we need to worry about." Emma told her.

"Well if anyone knows that, you do right?" Gia teased her, shoving her gently. Emma just folded her arms in defiance as she pulled away. In a rather embarrassing incident, Emma had seen him completely naked. In all his time alone, some of his social conventions had eroded slightly, so when he didn't have something to wear to sleep in, he had gone au natural. Emma had caught the show when he didn't seem to think anything of getting out of bed with her in the room when she took him breakfast. Gia still loved teasing her about it.

"That's not what I mean." Emma whined defensively. She pulled in closer. "Haven't you noticed he's kind of...cut off?"

"Well he is the new guy." Gia reminded her. She had noticed it too, and knew what Emma was talking about, but she had to concede that he had kind of landed in the middle of everything. He was likely going to take some time to warm to the team and get used to them being around. While he had been part of a team before, they knew that his time on Lafitte's crew had ended badly, so it was no surprise he wasn't exactly throwing himself into a new team.

"I know, but..." Emma tried to explain what she was thinking. "He's been on his own a long time, I get that, but...he spends a lot of time in his room. We already know he had a rough time of things, I can't even imagine what he's been through, but...he hardly talks."

Gia said something to her, at which Emma just stared at her blankly. Gia smiled.

"Why do you think I want to learn some Andresian?" She asked. "It's not like a lot of us have a lot in common. Maybe in time he'll feel more comfortable and..."

"Not if he spends all day in his room alone." Emma told her. "What does he even do in there?"

"Do you really want to know what a guy does alone in his room?" Gia asked her. Emma just looked to her judgementally.

"You have a one-track mind do you know that?" She asked.

"Hey, I have an excuse for not knowing much about guys." Gia sniggered. Emma just shook her head in defeat, before their attention was snapped back round to the middle of the deck.

There was a huge yell, at which Jake ended up on the ground, clutching his ribs. Orion had hit the pad, but his kick had still taken Jake clean off his feet, and dumped him unceremoniously on the floor. Orion rushed out something in Andresian as he approached, while the others closed in.

"I'm sorry Jake, are you alright?" Orion asked.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault." Troy rushed out before Jake could say anything. "We told you to hit it as hard as you could. You just did what we asked you."

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking." Jake grumbled as they assured Orion he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Uh...Orion DID ask if you were alright." Gia reminded him. Although Jake had accepted the fact Orion was here to stay, and even accepted him as being a Ranger, there was still a lingering coolness between them. Jordan had been really close to Jake, and he had taken it particularly hard when they realised Jordan was not coming back to the team as they had believed. It wasn't Orion's fault, and in some ways it wasn't Jake's either. It was just something that they'd have to work to get over. Before anything else could be said, Noah arrived.

"Guys, the scans are ready." He told them. He looked to Troy. "Is the data from the physical tests ready?"

"It should be." Troy answered, figuring this was a good place to end the tests for the day. They all went down into the main room to wait while Noah compiled his results.

It didn't take long for Noah to add the results of the physical tests to his own medical and anatomical scans. He pulled up an image on a screen and prepared to make a presentation. For a moment, the Rangers could see a slight glint in his eye, the way he always had back in the days they still attended High School. While many didn't like presentations, Noah seemed to relish the opportunity to share the results of his many experiments with people.

"Well, the good news is that Orion's not in any danger from our atmosphere." He told them. "I've done a complete analysis of his tissue and blood samples, and with the exception of a few anomalies, his DNA says he's human."

"Human?" Jake asked a little sceptically. "He's human?"

"Earth isn't the only planet humans have evolved." Noah told him. "KO35 and Miranoi also have native human populations."

"You said something about differences?" Troy asked, hoping to get Noah to cast some light on anything they might need to know about Orion to help him adjust. Noah smiled and pulled up some information.

"As we all know, there are two factors in evolution, genetics, and environment. Sometimes, a species' physical characteristics are only superficially different based on their environment." He said, pulling up some notes. "Now, I know that Orion was likely very fit anyway given his career as a miner, so I've factored that in, but by the looks of things, his bone and muscle density is approximately 8 percent greater than it should be for someone of his height and build."

"So...his muscle and bone is...stronger than it should be?" Gia asked. Noah just nodded.

"I think Andresia might have had a stronger gravity than we do, because from what the scans show, it's across his whole body. It also explains why he survived so long on his own. We've all seen his scars...without access to medical care, a lot of those injuries should have left more lasting damage."

"I can vouch for the stronger part." Jake complained, rubbing his ribs. Noah just gestured to him.

"That's one of the side-effects, his muscles are slightly more powerful on scale than ours." Noah answered. "I imagine that must have been an advantage since most of their population were miners."

He pulled up another screen.

"Orion told me that the climate on Andresia was always very dull, between pollution from mines, and a naturally subdued climate, the sun wasn't too strong there, so as a result, his people have evolved to have very little melanin in their skin, hair and eyes. That's why his complexion, hair and eye colour are so naturally light." He continued. "As an upshot though, it looks like his visual receptors are more sensitive to light, something that was probably an advantage for miners. He can see well in low light. It's really fascinating; it shows how a species can..."

"NOAH!" Troy called out, interrupting him before he went too far. It only took him a moment to realise his enthusiasm was getting away from him. The last thing they wanted was for him to seem like he was treating Orion as a test subject. "So...he's safe on Earth?"

"Well...I'd recommend sun screen in hot climates, but as far as I can tell, nothing about our environment or our food should cause him any problems." He replied. Troy got up from his chair and placed a chest on the middle of the table.

"Now that we've got that sorted out, I think it's time we summarise where we are on our search." He told them. He started to take out the Ranger keys from the chest, arranging them all on the table into their individual teams. It took a while, but eventually he finished with his task. "At present, we have 86 Ranger Keys."

"We have all the Mighty Morphin' Keys, including the White and Green ones." Emma began, pointing to the first team. "Not to mention Orion brought us the six Alien Ranger keys."

"We've got the Gold Zeo key, but that's it." Noah added. "We do have five Turbo Keys from Justin, and all six Space Ranger keys."

"We got the five Galaxy Ranger keys from Orion." Gia said, patting him on the shoulder. "And we have the Titanium Ranger Lightspeed Key."

"We've got the Quantum Ranger Time Force Key, but Jen didn't have the others." Troy reminded them going down the line. "But we do have the six Wild Force keys."

"We've got all six of the Ninja Storm keys now." Jake continued. "But we only have the White Dino Thunder Key."

"We've got six SPD Ranger keys, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Pink and Omega...but I know there was another when they showed up in Reefside." Noah added. "Mystic Force, we've got the Solaris Knight, and the Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and Pink keys. There was a White Ranger though, so we're missing that."

"We've got all six of the Overdrive keys." Emma said, gesturing to them. "We also have the five Jungle Fury Keys."

"We've got all the RPM keys as far as we know. They only showed up in Panorama once, so there might be more...I don't know." Gia responded to that. "And for the Samurai...we've got all six!"

"And we have all five of our old keys." Troy concluded the rundown. "So, what are we looking for?"

"Well, there are the five Zeo keys for a start." Noah said, pointing to the lone Gold Ranger key, then to the Titanium Ranger key. "Not to mention the Lightspeed keys."

"We've not got the Time Force Keys since Jen didn't have them." Jake reminded them. "And we're missing the Dino Thunder keys."

"That's another twenty keys." Gia concluded.

"Thirty." Orion corrected them. They all looked at him. "When I last saw Lafitte, he had some Ranger Puppets with him...he said he had ten keys."

"There are other Rangers...one SPD...One Mystic Force..."

"There were others, ones that weren't CALLED Rangers." Noah interrupted Gia. "Like the Blue Centurion!"

"So there are ten others?" Troy asked. "Then I guess we have thirty more keys to collect."

"There's not much we can do about Lafitte's keys until he gets back." Noah replied. "So I guess now we just have to concentrate on the others."

"So, whose turn is it to get the clue?" Gia groaned. "I know it isn't mine, so don't even TRY and tell me it is!"

"What's going on?" Orion asked.

"We're going to get a clue to getting the next Ranger Keys." Emma explained.

"No, I mean...why is everyone so reluctant?" He asked. Just then, Jake got a wicked grin on his face.

"You know what...Orion hasn't gotten a clue yet!" He reminded everyone. They all thought about it for a moment, before turning to face Orion. He was blissfully unaware of what that meant though.

"Come on guys, Orion..."

"No, he joined the team; he should get a turn like everyone else." Jake replied as he got up from the table. "I'll just go get...ready."

"What was that about?" Orion asked.

"Tensou, come here for a moment." Troy called out. The little robotic parrot flew into the room, landing on the table. His head was hung low, and he walked rather slowly, with little enthusiasm. "We need another clue."

"Oh great, which one of you is it this time?" He grumbled.

"This time, it's Orion." Noah told him. Tensou made his way over to Orion's place, then turned his back.

"Just make this quick." He muttered. Orion didn't really understand what was going on; having never seen the Rangers activate Tensou's tracking software. It was a mishap in Jordan's attempt to create their new technology that had led to a minor problem with Tensou's tracking software. So far, the only way they had found to activate it was to hit Tensou over the head. Needless to say he was not exactly best pleased with this, and for a while had attacked whoever had the unfortunate task of getting the clue. Since then however, they had come up with a compromise of sorts, a way to appease Tensou for the inconvenience of having one of his friends bash him over the head without him attacking them in response. Jake came back, dragging the large, foam-rubber Mr Brainfreeze outfit.

"OK, what's going on?" Orion asked as Troy handed him a hammer. He pointed to Tensou.

"To kick-start his tracking software, you have to hit him on the head." Troy explained. "Then, to make it up to him, you have to wear that for an hour."

Orion just looked between each of the Rangers, smiling nervously, but pretty soon he realised they weren't joking.

"It's kind of a ritual." Emma explained. "We've all had to do it."

"So...you hit Tensou...one of your friends over the head." He started to say, trying to make sense of the situation. "Then I have to wear that...thing?"

"That's the ritual." Jake replied, holding up the Mr Brianfreeze outfit. "We haven't got all day."

Orion just stood, staring at them for a moment, before realising that he was in a no-win situation. He just sighed.

"And you all think I'm weird." He responded, before switching to his native tongue. "_Forgive me my friend._"

With that, he brought the hammer down across Tensou's head, causing him to tumble across the table. He shook his head as the Rangers scrambled to set him upright, and record the poem.

"Beneath the Watch of Her Majesty's Yeomen Warders,  
Guarding India's Star upon Her orders,  
Seek out the First Child of the Crystal in the Pudding and Pie's path,  
To find the keys, before your latest foe hath."

"OK, these poems are getting worse." Jake grumbled. "What are we looking for and where?"

"The Yeomen Warders...that sounds familiar." Noah said as he went to the computer and started an internet search.

"What was that about a pudding and a pie anyway?" Emma asked. "It's not like we're looking for a dessert."

"The Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty...that's the official title of the Beefeaters!" Noah called out as he got up from the computer. "They only serve in one place, guarding the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London!"

"India's Star...the Star of India." Gia groaned, realising that part of the clue. "It's a huge diamond in the queen's crown."

"Pie and Pudding, the Great Fire of London started in Pie Corner and ended in Pudding Lane." Noah told them, checking the computer. "So it looks like we're heading to London."

Meanwhile, on board his ship, Lafitte was navigating his way back towards Earth when his communicator bleeped. The Shadow Ranger handed it to him.

"What is taking you so long?" His employer screamed. "So you realise how close the Rangers are to gaining all the Ranger Keys?"

"I had to take a detour; I got involved in some obstacles." Lafitte told him. "I should be there soon."

"There aren't many keys left!" His Employer reminded him. "I was under the impression..."

"I'll be there in plenty of time." Lafitte assured him. "Don't worry about it. You'll get your money's worth."

As the communications link cut off, the Employer just put down his communicator. He was beginning to lose patience with Lafitte's laissez faire approach to the contract. Although he knew he was powerful, and he now knew he would bring all his power to bear, now that Orion had gotten involved and made it personal.

"Well forgive me if I want some reassurances." The employer said as he reached out, stroking a long, sliver staff with a large, silver Z at the top of it. "I have my own ways of making things interesting."


	2. London Bound

The Red Galleon made its way through the sky, heading on its journey to the United Kingdom. Even with the speed of the Galleon, it was still quite a journey, allowing the Rangers some time to themselves.

Emma was sitting with Gia, playing a game of cards, but given the large stack of chips by Gia's place at the table, it was clear she wasn't playing very well. She stared blankly at her cards, before throwing them down.

"Fold." She muttered. Gia put down her cards with a smile.

"Emma, there's no way you're this bad at poker." She stated, clearing out the pot. "You've not been paying attention all afternoon."

"I have so!" Emma protested. Gia just looked to her sceptically.

"Then explain why you folded on a straight flush and let me win with three twos." Gia responded, pointing to the cards. Emma looked to them and groaned as she realised Gia was right. She had been paying so little attention that she hadn't realised how strong her hand was.

"It's just..."

"Let me guess, blonde hair, grey eyes, has a habit of wearing silver?" Gia asked. "Is this something Troy should be worried about?" Emma pulled in closer.

"He's been shut up in his room for hours." Emma told her. Gia just shrugged her shoulders as Emma looked to the door, leading to the living quarters. "What is he doing in there?"

"Emma, he's been living on his own for months, maybe even years." Gia reminded her. "It's got to take some getting used to being around others again, even with a normal group."

"Maybe we shouldn't have made him wear the Mr Brainfreeze outfit." Emma mused out loud. "Maybe he took it personally."

"Hey, we've all had to wear that smelly, disgusting thing." Gia told her. "He didn't seem too bothered once he took it off. He's probably just getting cleaned up."

"For two hours?" Emma asked.

"That thing does smell pretty bad by now." Gia reminded her. Just then, Jake came into the room from the main deck.

"We've just seen the coast." Jake told them. "We should be arriving any time now."

"Thanks Jake." Gia responded as he left to head back out on the deck. She looked to Emma and sighed. "I know that look."

"What look?" Emma asked innocently.

"We'll be arriving any time now." Gia reminded her. "We can get him..."

"I think I'll just let Orion know we're almost there." Emma interrupted her, getting up. Before Gia could do anything to stop her, Emma was already out the door and heading towards Orion's room. She just started gathering up the cards, putting them back in the pack.

"That girl just won't quit." She commented with a little smile.

Emma made her way down the hall, stopping by the door to Orion's room. She waited a moment, before knocking.

"Orion?" She asked. When she didn't get an answer, she opened the door ajar, justifying it by telling herself he might not hear her through the door. "Orion?"

She still didn't get an answer. As she came into the room quietly, she found him kneeling on the floor, facing away from her. He didn't seem to notice her as she arrived, continuing to look away from her. Emma could hear a low, rhythmic voice coming from him, presumably speaking in Andresian since she couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Orion?" She asked again. He didn't respond, so she started to make her way towards him. She didn't really know why, but she was treading lightly as she approached him, almost creeping up on him. As she got to him, she saw him with his left forearm up, crossing his chest, placing his distinctive bracelet over the centre of his chest. His right hand was also raised, his fingers tapping sections of the bracelet in sequence as he carried on. By the time she was around in front of him, she could see his eyes were closed.

"Orion?" She asked again as she approached. He didn't answer, he just continued to mumble and chant, almost like he was in some kind of trance. As she approached, starting to reach out for him, his eyes suddenly shot open. Emma screamed, almost jumping clean out of her skin in fright, hitting the back of her head against the bed side table as she fell over. Orion got up, and crouched over her, inspecting her thoughtfully.

"Emma?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

"I will be once my head stops pounding." She muttered as she checked the back of her head with her hand. To her relief, she wasn't bleeding, but a noticeable bump was already starting to swell up under her hand.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked her. "My door was closed!"

"I knocked, but you didn't answer." She explained. "I came to tell you we're almost in Britain, we're getting ready to land."

Orion offered her a hand, hauling her to her feet effortlessly. Between his time working in the mines back home and his time surviving on his own marooned on an uninhabited planet meant that he was incredibly strong. He shifted Emma's weight almost effortlessly, the only issue being that he brought her up so fast that it took a moment for her to get her balance.

"What were you doing anyway?" She asked him. Orion didn't answer. He just turned and walked out of the room, gathering up his jacket as he went. Emma breathed a deep sigh. He was so guarded and private, she really wished she knew if there was some way she could help him, but seeing the way he reacted, she had a feeling that if anything; this intrusion had done more harm than good to her efforts to get closer to him.

At the Tower of London, the famous Beefeaters were doing their rounds, guarding the perimeter. It was a prestigious position, and a great honour to be chosen to serve in the famous regiment, even if membership was largely ceremonial more than functional. Between modern security and surveillance systems protecting the Crown Jewels, the guards were more or less only there as a last resort. Like the Scot's Guard at the palace, they were most famous and widely known for their traditional uniforms which hadn't changed in hundreds of years. Their distinctive red and gold uniforms, tall black hats and halberds were famous the world over.

A tour group came into the main room, the last stop on the tour, where the Crown Jewels were displayed. The woman leading the tour turned to the group she was with, seeing the tourists already snapping pictures.

"This room has housed the famous Crown Jewels for hundreds of years." She said in a distinctive, accented voice. She was a tall woman, with long, blonde hair hanging down the back of her black business suit with a pink blouse. She panned her hand around the room. "At one time, the security of these priceless artefacts was the exclusive responsibility of the Beefeaters, but today we have more modern means."

The tourists continued to take pictures as she gestured to the main exhibit.

"These are, of course, the most famous and valuable items in the exhibit, the famous Crown Jewels, most famously worn by the current monarch on her coronation. This piece is St Edward's Crown, made from..."

She looked around the room, seeing the tourists were taking pictures of the display cases and the Beefeaters, standing nowhere near her. She just sighed.

"It's made from spun sugar, and was brought to Britain when the queen travelled by pogo stick to the moon to win it in a game of poker from the little green men." She muttered. None of the tourists reacted, they weren't paying the slightest bit of attention to her, they were far too interested in ogling the valuable jewels, and chatting among themselves trying to imagine what they would be worth.

"Alright, that ends our tour." The guide announced. "If you follow this path, it'll take you to the gift shop, please feel free to fill out a comment card..."

They filed past her, at which she had to force a smile.

"...if you give a crap at all." She concluded. She went over the corner and leant against the wall, covering her face with her hands, letting out a weary sigh.

"Well, that was some interesting commentary at the end there Kat." One of the guards chuckled. "I didn't know I spent all day defending spun sugar."

"Don't start with me Eddie." She groaned.

"Look, I know the job isn't the greatest..."

"Isn't the greatest?" Kat asked him. "They weren't even listening to me! Not one of them noticed when I said that!"

"I know, they get distracted by all the shiny jewels." He commented, putting a hand on her shoulder. Kat just shook her head. "I've been here a lot longer than you; it happens with most of the tour groups."

"I know, it's just...this is a huge part of the country's history." She reiterated, her native Australian accent coming through more strongly now.

"You're just fed up of spending all that time learning all that stuff only for no one to listen to you." He chuckled. Kat sighed and nodded her head.

"There is some truth in that I guess." She muttered. Things were a little lean for the former Pink Ranger these days. When she had passed on her powers to Cassie, she had finally had the time to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer. She had been accepted to a ballet academy in London, and although she was sad to leave her friends, she knew that the opportunity was one she couldn't pass up.

Things had gone well for her in all those years, and she had been involved in many successful shows. She'd received rave reviews as a headline act all across Europe, but the time came when her career started to wind down. A sad fact was that ballet dancers didn't have particularly long careers in general, their bodies starting to break down under the weight of the demands placed on them. It was exacerbated in Kat's case by a few nagging injuries left over from her Ranger days. She'd continued as long as she could, but after a particularly extensive surgery on her left knee, she finally accepted that if she wanted to walk away from ballet, the emphasis on WALKING away, that was the time to do it.

By then, her reputation was so strong that she had found no difficulty at all getting work as an instructor, and a few years later had even gathered enough savings to open her own school. It wasn't big, only having a couple of dozen students at most at any time, but it was work she loved so much she didn't mind taking occasional side-jobs to help keep it open. The economic downturn had hit her business hard, with many of her students no longer being able to afford classes, and that was even BEFORE The Armada came. The sad fact was that her side-jobs, like the tour guide job she was doing now, had all but taken over from her time in the school just to earn enough to make ends meet and keep the doors open.

"I know, it's their holiday and they should be allowed to do what they want." Kat grumbled. "I just wonder why people come all this way to historical sites, and then don't bother listening to the history behind them."

Eddie just laughed.

"Right now, I think a lot of people are more worried about the present." He reminded her. Kat just laughed. Eddie was a kind man, a retired soldier that had been inducted into the Beefeaters as a way to supplement his pension. It wasn't a hugely demanding job, and it was a way for the government to reward him for years of loyal service by giving him a steady wage in a job he enjoyed. Most of his day was generally spent posing for pictures with tourists. Kat liked him; he reminded her a lot of her father.

"You're right, thanks Eddie." She answered as he left to continue on his rounds. It was a tedious and frustrating time in her life, but Kat knew she just had to make the best of it. It wasn't as though she was expecting the income from her school to suddenly skyrocket any time soon, so for now, dealing with tourists was going to have to do. She got off the wall, straightened out her hair, and headed back for the main gates to prepare for the next group.

After concealing the ship, the Rangers disembarked and headed for the city. Jake was carrying a large bag of treasures from their "piggy bank", one of Blackbeard's hidden vaults in St. Lucia. Jordan had shown them where it was, so that they could secure funds whenever they needed to. Having dressed in civilian dress to blend in, they were pointedly aware that none of them had any money. Although they still had some Euros from their time in Paris, Great Britain hadn't opted into the single European currency, still trading in Pounds Sterling.

"Jake, are you sure you brought enough?" Gia laughed, seeing the size of the bag. Most of the treasures within the vault were incredibly valuable, and netted impressive returns from pawn brokers, but they'd never carried this kind of volume with them. Jake just looked to her.

"Do you know how expensive things are here?" He asked her. "Petrol goes for like a hundred dollars a gallon!"

"No it doesn't." Emma groaned, taking the bag off him. Of all of them, she was the only one that had actually BEEN to the UK. It was when she was a lot younger, her mom and dad had brought her on holiday once. Although she could remember her dad commenting that things were more expensive in the UK, Jake was exaggerating more than a little.

"Whatever, let's just get some cash and find those keys." Troy told them as they headed into the centre of the city. "We don't want to risk outstaying our welcome."

As soon as they left, a dark figure, watching through a viewing device from his hiding place in a dark cave many miles from them just smiled. He had been tracking them on their journey, and now that he knew where they were, and more importantly where they had left their ship, he had an idea.

"Now, let's make things a little interesting." He commented to himself, scanning the area. Even cloaked, he knew exactly where the ship was since he had watched them disembark, and so he was able to focus all his energies on the process. Finding the ship, he started searching it. He found the chest of Ranger Keys sitting on a plinth by the command chair, but cursed his luck as he realised it was sealed.

"Damned Rangers!" He growled. Even if he got onto the ship, if he somehow managed to bypass their security, he had a feeling he would need incredible power to break into the chest, power he didn't really have to spare right now. He needed to keep something in reserve in case he was ever found. As he was scanning though, he found something interesting, an object...something that had all the Rangers' DNA trapped within it. He boosted power to his viewing device to get a closer look. Seeing a huge mass of foam rubber lying on the floor, he found himself starting to laugh.

"They...they honestly wore that?" He laughed, finding the idea farcical. However, as he continued to laugh, an idea came to him. The costume had samples of all the Rangers' DNA in it, including the new Silver Ranger's. He looked to the Z-staff next to him, and pondered for a moment. After a while thinking about it, he picked up the staff. "Let's see how you like THIS!"

On the Red Galleon, Tensou was fluttering around, doing some chores and muttering about once again being hit over the head by one of his friends. Although he didn't really feel any pain from it, being a robot, he still took it personally whenever the Rangers had to bludgeon him to find out where they were going next.

As he flew around the ship though, he suddenly found himself blasted back by a huge static charge. Clearing his optics, he was startled to see lightning crackling around the Mr Brainfreeze costume, before it suddenly disappeared. He landed on a table, and performed a full scan of the ship. No one had gotten onto the ship, none of the security systems had been breached...however he couldn't deny that the costume was gone. Even in the bizarre world of the Power Rangers, things rarely simply disappeared without a trace.

"Oh, this can't be good." He stated to himself.


	3. Enter Mr Brainfreeze

The Rangers were standing around in a pawn shop, waiting while Emma and Troy went to the counter with a couple of pieces to trade. Emma had convinced them that even though Jake had insisted everything was expensive in Great Britain by comparison to back home, that he was greatly overestimated exactly HOW expensive, and convinced them that if they DID trade the sack of goods Jake had brought, they would likely just bring unwanted attention to themselves. After all, even in the US, a bunch of teenagers walking up to the counter of a pawn shop with a huge pile of antique jewellery would raise more than a few suspicions.

"As they went to the counter, Troy could see a man, a bald, slightly rotund older man in a suit behind the counter looking at the teenagers and snorting dismissively. Looking at the display cases, he had a feeling this pawn shop was pretty high-end. Seeing a bunch of teenagers, he probably figured that they didn't have anything of any real value. He gestured to his assistant, a young girl who looked like she wasn't much older than them to the desk. He said something under his breath to her, which got Troy worried. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to claim Vekar's bounty, which as of the last time he checked was now fast approaching a hundred million apiece. He kept his hands where they could be seen, but made sure his morpher was clipped to his belt, ready in case he needed it.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The young woman asked. Troy made sure he kept an eye on the man, who didn't seem to be going for a phone or anything and breathed a sigh of relief as he started to inspect some coins at the other side of the shop. It didn't look like they had been recognised, it seemed more likely he believed they didn't have anything of value and had instructed his assistant to deal with them quickly and get them out of the shop. He could imagine he believed they made the place look untidy, and not like the kind of clients he wanted to encourage.

"Hi, I've got some jewellery that I inherited from my grandmother recently." Emma lied expertly. She had at one time hated lying, especially to people she cared about, but it had become something of an essential skill in their position as fugitives. "It really isn't my style; I was hoping you could give me something for it."

"Well, let's have a look then shall we?" The assistant asked. Emma pulled a large, golden cuff style bracelet out of her pocket, which was inlaid with jewels in a kind of coat of arms on its surface. She pulled a necklace, a length of gold chain which held numerous pendants of what she presumed were diamonds hanging from it. Placing both of the items on the counter, she could see the assistant starting to inspect them, but after a brief second, she laid them down very, very carefully on the counter and backed away. "Um...Mr Harris...could...could you have a look at these please?"

"I'm busy." He said gruffly.

"I...I'd really like a second opinion here." She said nervously. The older man just let out an annoyed grunt and stomped over, his face an expression of exasperation. "I...um...I'd really like a second opinion."

He grabbed the bracelet, shaking his head in disbelief, before starting to look at it, turning it over in his hands. After a moment, he pulled out a small viewing glass, which he held up to his eye as he pulled it up close. Troy could swear he saw him changing colour. His viewing glass almost dropped out of his eye, and he stumbled to catch it. Troy couldn't help smiling.

"Where did you say you got this?" He asked her.

"My grandmother left it to me in her will." Emma repeated the lie, pushing the necklace towards them. "They've been in the family for a while, she got them from her mom, but they're not really my style. I was hoping I could get some money for them."

The man rudely pushed his assistant aside as he brought out a set of scales, and started to inspect both items very closely. Troy couldn't help smiling, moments ago he had made no secret of the fact he didn't want them in his shop. Now, he couldn't be more interested in the young customers.

"Well, they are quite old...and there's a fair bit of gold in them." He stated. "The gems are in good condition...I think I can help you...three hundred pounds."

"Excuse me, I look young, but I'm 18." Emma said with a little smile. "I wasn't born yesterday."

"I beg your pardon?" The man asked.

"You practically did a cartwheel when you saw those." Gia chipped in, coming over. "I think we all know its worth a lot more than that."

"Well, they look nice, but they really aren't..." He saw them all staring at him, completely unconvinced. He knew exactly how much they were worth, and was hoping that with them being so young, they would believe him when he tried to low-ball them.

"Should we go somewhere else?" Troy asked him. The man just breathed a sigh and looked to the bracelet in his hands. He really didn't want to let them leave with something so valuable.

"OK, I might have been a little hasty." He conceded as he considered his options. "Three thousand."

"That's quite a jump." Jake said with a smirk. "If you can suddenly go up 2700 pounds, and make a profit, I have to wonder what they're really worth."

Troy thought for a moment. While it was clear the man was trying to scam them for a bargain, he was also mindful of the fact that even if they WEREN'T fugitives, teenagers carrying around antique jewellery worth thousands was as likely to raise suspicions here as it was back home. He knew that any time they traded in trinkets from the vault they had to take a hit in its true value. He then noticed the young counter assistant gesturing something behind his back. She was holding up five fingers. He could tell that she loved seeing her boss, who seemed to be an insufferably rude, opportunistic con artist being held over a barrel.

"Five thousand." Troy declared. "Not a penny less."

The man started to stammer something out, but as Emma moved to take the jewellery away, he just held up his hands.

"Fine, I'll just get it from the safe." He told them. As he went into the back to get it, Gia moved to a part of the shop where she could see just inside the door, making sure he really was opening the safe, and not calling the cops. Seeing how quickly he punched in the code, she had a feeling he was still getting a bargain, but it wasn't as though they really knew enough to get a fair price, and they didn't have time for a lengthy negotiation.

"Thanks for that." Troy whispered to the young sales assistant. She just pulled in closer.

"Trust me, that's the most fun I've had in months working here." She responded. "Mr Harris is a complete tight arse. I practically have to pry his wallet open with a crow bar to get my overtime pay. I love seeing people make him shell out."

He came back in, carrying a huge wad of notes and started to count them out. Troy could see that they were getting a pretty substantial amount of cash and made a quick mental note to distribute it around them evenly, just in case they got separated. London was a big city, and he had a feeling that their search could take a while.

"4960, 4980, 5000!" Mr Harris counted aloud, laying out the last of the money. "Well, you drive a hard bargain, but it was a pleasure doing business with you."

Emma shook his hand, but she had to force a smile as she did so. He had tried to pass them off with 300, and she had a feeling that even 5000 was a low offer. She knew he was probably relying on the fact they were young to try and scam them. She had to wonder how many people he had to rip off on a daily basis.

"Well, I promised to take you all out with the proceeds!" Emma announced. "Let's find somewhere to eat!"

Troy quickly distributed the cash around the others, making sure everyone had some money, before they left the store. As they got outside, he looked to the others.

"Alright, so...where do we start?" Troy asked.

"The clue said something about the Tower." Gia said with a shrug. "How about we start there and work outwards?"

"In the absence of a better plan, I guess we go for it." Noah said with a shrug. He pointed to a sign. "It says the path is this way."

With that, the Rangers headed along the street, following the path to the tower.

In another part of the city, just a couple of streets away, Katherine had finished her last tour of the morning, and was heading into the town to get something for lunch. After changing into a pair of sensible shoes, she headed out towards her favourite cafe.

There were many things about her job at the Tower that she didn't like, but the food wasn't one of them. Being a tourist trap, the whole area was crawling with cafes and restaurants serving just about anything a person could want. She still hadn't had a chance to try half of them, and she'd taken the job almost two years previously. It meant that she was unlikely to ever get bored with the options available.

As she got to a cafe, she made her way to the counter, fumbling with her handbag as she approached the counter.

"Hi, what's the soup of the day?" She asked.

"Bacon and lentil." He informed her. Kat just smiled hearing this.

"That sounds amazing, I'll have the soup and sandwich deal." She told him. "A cheese toastie, and a pot of Earl Grey please."

"I'll just bring it over." He told her. Kat went to her table, taking a seat and resting her bag on the chair next to her. She normally took her break a little after 1PM, just after the lunch rush, by which time most of the cafes were starting to empty out, meaning she had a little bit of peace to enjoy her lunch. She pulled out her I-phone to check her messages, finding a message on her voice mail. She typed in the code to unlock her mail box, and held the phone up to her ear.

"Hi, Ms. Hillard? This is Ashley." The voice began to say. "Listen...um...I'm really sorry to do this to you, but...things have been really bad around here lately and there are a lot of bills...I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel our dance lessons. I really love them, but I just can't afford them anymore. I hope you understand."

"Bugger." Kat muttered as she deleted the message. Ashley was one of her more promising students, one she had high hopes for. Unfortunately, this was far from the first such call she'd had. The main reason for her taking the job at the Tower was to help pay the bills at her school because so many of her students had been forced to leave the school. "That's just what I need."

The man behind the counter came over to her table, setting down her lunch, and her pot of tea. Kat fumbled around for her purse, taking out some money, handing it to him.

"Keep the change alright?" She stated. The man said a quick thank you as he left her to her meal. Just as she was about to start, she got another call coming through. She just sighed as she answered the phone. "Yes?"

"Hi, Kat, it's Kevin." Her room-mate told her. "Look, I'm really sorry about the short notice, but I've got a family emergency back home to deal with. The good news is you'll have the place to yourself for the next couple of weeks, the bad news...the bad news is it might be a while before I can get you my share of the rent."

"Is everything alright?" Kat asked him.

"It's my mom, she fell and hurt her leg pretty badly." He told her. "I wouldn't go if I didn't have to, but she's pretty frail most of the time, and with this..."

"No, no, its fine, you can't help it." Kat sighed. "It's pretty rotten timing, but you can't help that. Just...take care of her."

"I'm really sorry." He reiterated.

"No, it can't be helped. Just make sure she's alright." Kat assured him. "I'll worry about the bills. Just look after your mom."

As she hung up, she put her phone away.

"Great, that's just perfect." She muttered. "What else can go wrong today?"

A few streets away, the Rangers were still making their way through the streets, heading for the Tower. They had absolutely no idea if the Tower was even remotely connected to the person they were searching for, or if it was just a landmark that identified the city they were going to, but either way, it was currently the only clue they had. As they finally got to the entrance, they came to a halt.

"So, how do we handle this?" Jake asked. "It's not exactly like we can walk up to everyone that works there and ask, 'hey, are you a Power Ranger?' is it?"

"You know, for once he kind of has a point." Gia replied.

"Yeah, exactly...hey, what's that meant to mean?" Jake said in response, becoming a little indignant as he realised what she had said.

"I think she was implying you don't often say anything of value." Orion responded. Everyone let out a low hiss as he said this.

"Who asked you?" Jake responded sharply. Just then, their morphers bleeped.

"Rangers, there's a new monster in the city!" Tensou screamed through the communicator.

"Well, that didn't take long." Gia grumbled. "What did Prince Cry Baby send this time?"

"Uh...that's the thing; I don't think it's one of his." Tensou told them. "There was a huge energy surge in the ship, and when it dissipated...the costume was gone."

"The costume?" Troy asked him. "What costume?"

"The Mr Brainfreeze costume!" Tensou explained. Troy and the others looked around each other, completely confused.

"Wait...what?" Emma asked. "Are you saying you think someone...turned that costume into a monster?"

"It's too much of a coincidence!" Tensou told them. The Rangers all looked to each other, before bursting into fits of laughter. Noah had to wipe some tears from his eyes.

"So...so...they took whatever piece of worthless shit we leave lying around and turned it into a monster?" He laughed. "How stupid is that?"

"If this is Vekar, he must be getting desperate!" Gia said, trying hard to contain her laughter.

"I used to be scared about that costume, but only because of how hideous it looked." Emma added. "I have a hard time imagining being scared of a giant, foam rubber..."

Her words were cut off as they heard a huge explosion a few streets from them. Car alarms screeched, and people started screaming. A massive dust cloud started to billow out, and debris was flying.

"Watch out!" Orion screamed, shoving Jake, Noah and Gia aside as he pulled Emma back out the way. A huge, ceramic chimney pot landed on the ground right where they had been standing, straight in front of Troy who didn't flinch, and shattered.

"OK, that can't be good." Jake commented.

"Come on, let's get this dealt with." Noah groaned. "I mean, how tough can a giant, walking snow cone be?"

"Well, there is one good thing." Orion chipped in. "At least if we destroy it, none of us will have to wear it again."

They all paused, looked to each other, and broke off into a run, speeding to the scene of the explosion.

Over in the remains of the cafe, Kat spluttered as she started to stir, under the wreckage of what had been her table. She shifted some debris off herself, and tried to stand, only to find her leg failing to respond. She looked down, seeing a large piece of wood, stained in blood lodged in her thigh. She had done a lot of first aid courses in her role as a dance instructor, and knew better than to try and remove it. She heard people screaming outside, and started to drag herself to the front of the cafe, using the furniture to help her to her one remaining good leg. As she got to the front, looking out to the street, she couldn't believe what she saw.

It was a creature, with a body that was almost cylindrical, tapering a little towards the bottom, which gave it the appearance of a paper cup. On top of what could loosely be referred to as its head, it had a massive mound of what looked like whipped cream, covered in sprinkles, with a large cherry on top. The creature was cackling and dancing maniacally as it amused itself with the destruction and the fear it was causing. As it turned around, finally facing her, Kat could see the name "Mr Brainfreeze" emblazoned across its chest.

"Oh great." She muttered. "Not this crap again!"


	4. The Pain of Brainfreeze

The Rangers ran into the street, finding the place in complete bedlam. Smoke and dust filled the air, limiting visibility to only a few feet, and screams and car alarms filled the air. As they arrived, Troy found someone struggling to regain his feet, over some rubble. He grabbed the man and hauled him to his feet.

"We need to get out of here." The man rushed out in a panic. "We have to run..."

"Is there anyone else here?" Troy asked him. The man just shook his head.

"They're dead, everyone's dead!" He screamed, struggling to get away. Troy knew that wasn't true, he could still hear screams coming from the street. He could even see a few people managing to limp from the wreckage of buildings. The others, the ones he couldn't see, had to be trapped. He looked to the man, and the look in his eyes said it all. He was in a full-blown panic. Even without his injuries, it was clear that his judgement was impaired. He was riding on pure instinct, fight or flight...in this case, flight. Troy couldn't really blame him for that. He just shoved the man down the street.

"Get out of here, the emergency services will be here soon." He told the man as the others assembled around him. "There are still survivors, keep an eye out!"

As they started to make their way through the wreckage, the street started to clear enough for them to see. Where they could, the Rangers helped people from the wreckage, and sent them on their way. Eventually, Troy stopped as he saw the visibility clearing up enough to get a good view down the street. He saw a distinctive shape, one that he would recognise anywhere, but that up until now had always been an image that inspired laughter and smiles, something that were in short supply these days.

"Guys!" He called out, causing his Rangers to form up around him. They all looked on as Mr Brainfreeze was dancing and cackling madly. He looked to a coffee shop nearby.

The Rangers shuddered as they felt an icy wind build up, whipping in the direction of the shop. The front of it started to ice up at an alarming rate.

"Troy, he's freezing it solid!" Noah told him. "The building won't withstand it! If we let him..."

"I have no intention of letting him!" Troy yelled as he morphed. He had already figured out what Noah was about to say. The buildings had already taken a lot of damage, and with survivors still to be found, the last thing they could afford was any more collapses. He fired his blaster into Mr Brainfreeze's back, bringing his attention to them as the other Rangers all morphed to join him.

"That's enough!" Troy yelled at him. "We won't let you hurt anyone else!"

"You say that like it's your choice!" Mr Brainfreeze cackled. "I was just...cooling people off. Can you believe they're eating warm meals and drinking coffee? It's summer! They need to cool off!"

"Alright guys, we don't know what this guy can do, so keep together and..."

Just then, he heard a bellowing cry as Orion broke ranks, charging straight at the creature, leaping high into the air with his Silver Spear in hand. He just sighed.

"Of course, that works too." Jake responded sarcastically as he threw Gia a sword, accepting her blaster in return. "Come on, let's give him a hand!"

Emma switched her sword with Noah's blaster as they ran into battle. Troy watched them rush headlong at the creature and just shook his head.

"I guess we can talk about teamwork later." He muttered as he rushed to join them.

Meanwhile, up on the Armada Command Ship, Damaras was taking his shift to keep track of things on Earth. Since the Prince had fallen into his "depression", a kind way of saying he had gone into his room to sulk since he had been unable to defeat the Rangers, he had pretty much the run of the ship. While Lavira was technically his equal in rank, she was a science officer, and so when it came to battle and strategy situations, command defaulted to him.

He was busy taking inventory of how many x-borgs and bruisers he had in reserve, and more importantly how long it would take to activate them. The ones in storage had to be charged. They had even been reduced to sending agents to recover the scrap of fallen warriors from battlefields, to see how many still had functioning power cells and could be repaired. It made for some pretty bleak reading, but he had warned the prince repeatedly about the folly of dedicating every available x-borg he had to battle without leadership, but the Prince would not hear his words.

It was not the first time the Prince's arrogance had cost them. In many ways, the only thing Damaras was thankful for was that he had a fondness for using robots instead of living soldiers. He doubted it was out of any form of conscience or guilt over sending warriors to die; it was just that robots were less likely to question or defy him. Damaras had been a general long enough to know that sometimes it was necessary to send soldiers to their death, but at least when he did it, he had considered all the options first and tried to limit the lives lost. To Prince Vekar, he would consider them as no more than the broken toys he discarded when he was finished with them. One thing was clear, Prince Vekar was not the strategist or warrior his father, or even his brother was. It was only the blood in his veins that tied Damaras to his service.

"Sir." One of the X-borg crew called out, drawing his attention from his handset. "Something is happening down on Earth. There is an attack in Great Britain."

"An attack?" Damaras asked him, coming over to observe the readings. "I didn't order an attack! Where is Lavira?"

"The last time I saw her, she was in her lab, effecting repairs on Argus." The X-borg told him.

"Summon her." Damaras told him. "Bring up the footage. I want to see this."

The X-borgs got to work, one of them calling through to the lab to find Lavira and summon her to the bridge, while the others got to work bringing up images of the battle. Damaras pulled back from the screen as he saw Mr Brainfreeze.

"I...I do not recognise this commander." He stated abruptly. "Pull up the personnel records. I want to know who this is."

"He does not appear on any of our databases." One of the X-borgs informed him.

"His energy signature is...unusual, I've never seen anything like this." Damaras commented as he checked the readings. Lavira came into the room.

"You rang My Lord." She said sarcastically, somewhat put out at the way she had been summoned while she was working. Not only had she been working non-stop to replenish their losses, and to bring Argus back to full function, she was also more or less responsible for babysitting the Prince. In his petulant huff, he hadn't even left his room to eat, and with his mood, she was the only one that could go into his room safely to bring him meals.

"Prince Vekar may like your creations enough to grant you carte blanche to do as you see fit, but while he's indisposed, all tactical decisions are MY responsibility!" He snapped at her.

"What are you babbling about now?" She asked him wearily. He gestured to the screen.

"If you launch an attack, I expect to be consulted!" He yelled at her. Lavira just snorted.

"That is not one of my creations." She told him. Damaras just looked to her, uncertain as to whether or not she was lying. "Between Argus, the reserves and the Prince, I've barely had time to sleep, much less create...is that...You really think I'd attack the Rangers with a giant ICE CREAM?"

Damaras stopped to think about what she had said. While it was true that she had a deceitful nature that made it difficult to tell if she was lying, she had a point. She hadn't had much in the way of free time to create any new weapons. This creature, whatever it was, didn't look to be any form of alien, and if she hadn't had time to create it, then it had to be someone else.

"The Prince?" He asked.

"He's been too busy eating ice-cream and seeking the comfort of his soft toys to create anything, much less...THAT." She assured him. Damaras just turned his attention back to the screen.

"There's been no sign of Lafitte recently." He commented. "It looks like another player may have joined our game."

Back in London, the Rangers were scattered as they fought Mr Brainfreeze. He was fending them off with pole-arm weapon, which looked a lot like a giant stroon. For a creature so large and cumbersome, he actually fought with surprising skill and speed. His strength was unbelievable. Gia and Noah attacked him from either side, locking weapons with him. Orion was rushing straight towards him from the front.

"Stick around!" He sneered as he fired a large, brown mass at Orion. The fluid hit him, and carried him into a wall, solidifying and hardening, holding him in place. He started screaming and steam started to roll from the mass as he was clearly getting burned. Troy ran over, starting to hack into it with his sword. "You'll get your turn soon enough."

"It's fudge!" Troy yelled, trying to free Orion from his bonds with his sword, but any time he cut into it, the viscous fluid just seemed to run back into the cut, and re-seal him in the burning hot sludge. "Guys, be careful!"

"Everyone likes hot fudge!" Mr Brainfreeze taunted them. "How about a few...sprinkles?"

"Look out!" Jake screamed as he, Emma and Troy ducked for cover. Gia and Noah were too close, and got hit by flying, brightly coloured sprinkles, which sliced into them. They lodged into wood, metal, and even concrete as they came to rest. Gia and Noah hit the ground and stopped moving.

"I can't believe this!" He called out. "We're getting our butts handed to us by a DESSERT!"

"Emma, no!" Troy called to his girlfriend as she broke cover, running for Noah and Gia. She loaded the pink Megaforce and Corsair keys into her pistols, firing at Mr Brainfreeze. She hit him square in the chest, blasting him away. She got to Gia's side, turning her over. She didn't seem to notice as Mr Brainfreeze got back up.

"That...that was a finisher!" Jake stammered. "That should have worked!"

"Emma!" Troy called out as the creature launched a chilling wind at her. She grabbed her head and fell to the ground, covering up as she did so. She started screaming under the attack, only for Troy and Jake to open fire, driving him back. Mr Brainfreeze just smiled.

"You think that's power?" He asked. He pulled the cherry off the top of his head, and started to cackle insanely. "Let's see how you like a Cherry Bomb!"

"Aw this is gonna suck!" Jake murmured as he launched it at them. He and Troy ran as fast as they could, but the blast was huge, throwing both of them off their feet, through the air. They de-morphed as they landed. Mr Brainfreeze started to make his way towards them, but stopped before he reached the prone Rangers.

"Well, I have to be going now, so many sweet-toothed citizens, so little time!" He stated. "See you!"

With that, he disappeared, leaving the area. Gia and Noah were the first to recover. Noah headed for Orion, hearing him still screaming in pain.

"Emma, are you alright?" Gia asked as she cradled her best friend. Emma just held her head in her hands, and didn't seem to be able to focus. Jake sat upright, shaking his head as he tried to clear the cobwebs.

"Are anyone else's ears ringing?" He asked. Troy just nodded as Noah finally managed to cut Orion free, allowing him to de-morph, and get rid of the hot fudge which was burning him painfully. "Is everyone alright?"

"You mean apart from having our asses handed to us by a foam-rubber mascot?" Gia asked. "Yeah, we'll live."

"The survivors..."

"Don't worry, everyone managed to get away." They heard an accented voice say. Kat limped out of her hiding place, having used some cloth napkins to stem the bleeding. They could see the large piece of wood sticking out of her leg.

"Are...are you alright?" Gia asked.

"Trust me; this isn't the worst that's happened to me." Kat assured them. "Anyway, can we go back to your command centre or something?"

The Rangers all looked to each other, before looking back to her.

"Look, we appreciate you wanting to help..."

"This isn't the first time I've faced something like this." Kat told them. "Believe me; back in Angel Grove we saw stuff weirder than this."

"Angel Grove?" Noah asked, realising what she had just said. "You're...you're the one we're looking for!"

"My name's Katherine Hillard." She told them. "Now...um...not to be a drama queen or anything, but I'd really like to get this thing out my leg."

"Let's get her back to the ship." Troy replied as he positioned himself under her arm, helping her walk. "The emergency services should be here soon."

Back on the Armada Command Ship, Lavira and Damaras were just staring in disbelief at the screen.

"They...they were beaten?" She asked incredulously. "The Mighty Power Rangers were defeated by an ice-cream?"

"Well, this is interesting." Damaras commented. "I don't know who sent that monster, but it appears that they may have inadvertently stumbled onto something."

"But we still don't know who this is." She reminded him. Damaras looked to her and shrugged.

"Have you ever heard the expression 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?" He asked her. "We might not know this new player's identity, but for now, as long as he is focused on the Rangers, why not accept the benefits?"

As Lavira was about to leave, he called to her to stop. She turned back to him.

"Send me an updated inventory of all forces we have ready for action." He told her. "And send Argus."

"You wish to...?"

"I just want to hedge my bets." Damaras told her as he turned back to the screen. "If all goes well, perhaps we can shake the Prince out of his interminable mood."

Over on the Red Galleon, Kat was sitting up on a bench, her leg supported while Gia finished binding it. The Rangers had all gotten pretty good at patching each other up across their battles, especially since they had taken on the Corsair powers hand couldn't really count on being able to go to hospitals.

"That was some pretty nice stitch work." Kat complimented her as Gia was wrapping her leg, covering the wound to prevent infection.

"I've kind of gotten used to it." Gia told her. "But I'm guessing you know all about that from your day."

"There are some interesting scars." Kat assured her. "But I'm guessing you guys have your own stories."

"Yeah, there are stories alright." Gia answered. Noah was just finishing up with Orion, treating his burns. While he hadn't suffered anything serious, the suit taking most of the damage, a lot of his chest was more than a little red, having started to suffer superficial burns. Jake, Troy, Gia and Noah were more bruised up than anything else. Emma was the only other one that seemed to be suffering anything more.

Troy was with her, holding her as she rubbed her head, taking some pain killers. She had complained about a terrible headache, one that was so severe it was affecting her ability to focus, and to see properly.

"I can't believe he attacked us with actual Brianfreeze." Gia grumbled. Kat just shrugged. "I can't even believe someone thought to make that costume into a monster!"

"Trust me; we faced some pretty bizarre monsters ourselves." Kat assured her. "This doesn't seem like those aliens though. It seems more like Lord Zedd's playbook. He loved making monsters out of any random crap we left lying around. Some of them were pretty bizarre."

"So Katherine..."

"Kat." She corrected Gia. The Yellow Corsair Ranger paused for a moment as she heard the name. She couldn't help feeling a slight ache at the mention of the name. Even a couple of months on, the memory of her first relationship coming to an end still hurt. "Everyone calls me Kat."

"That's...that's a nice name." Gia answered as she finished fastening the bandage on Kat's leg. "That should do it."

"Great, so now we're patched up, all we have to do is figure out what we do when that giant snow cone comes back." Noah grumbled. "He was...he was unlike anything we've seen before."

"It wasn't just his powers." Emma commented. "He seemed to know what we were about to do, like he knew our moves."

"Well, maybe we wouldn't have gotten our butts kicked so hard if SOMEONE didn't run in without support!" Jake commented. Orion just got up off the bench he was sitting on.

"Are you saying you can't handle things on your own?" Orion asked him.

"Yeah, because you were doing SO well when you were trapped in that fudge!" Jake responded. Orion just grabbed his shirt and headed to his room, slamming the door as he went. Kat just shuddered.

"What?" Gia asked.

"I'm just getting some serious déjà vu." She responded.

"I think we all need to cool off a little." Troy answered. "We'll meet back here in half an hour. Until then, everyone rest up."

With that, he took Emma through to their room, while Noah and Jake went to work on some ideas for new plans. Kat just lay back on the bench, and despite the trying day she just smiled. Even almost 20 years after she retired it seemed that sometimes, the more things changed, a lot of things stayed the same.


	5. Silver Faith

In a cave, far from prying eyes, Mr Brainfreeze was levitating a short way above the floor, rotating slowly within a pale, blue light. He had fled the battle when the Rangers were down; leaving them the opportunity to regroup, but he had not done so for no reason. He could barely see the figure on a throne in the distance, only his Z staff visible in the light just beyond the darkness.

"You had the Rangers down and out." A deep voice began in a menacing tone. "You had them dead to rights...and you RAN AWAY?"

"My Lord, my powers were diminishing!" Mr Brainfreeze protested. "I was weakening, my powers...I had perhaps only minutes left!"

"I GAVE you those powers!" He roared, firing a blast of lightning at the helpless Mr Brainfreeze. "Do not forget what you were before I came along! You are complaining about the powers I gave you?"

"No, My Lord, I merely meant..." Mr Brainfreeze stammered, trying to find an explanation. "I...I...I merely meant that once I have replenished my powers, I will..."

"You will what?" The voice asked. Mr Brainfreeze thought about it for a moment.

"I will bring the rest of the Rangers to their knees." He told him. The voice paused for a moment.

"What do you mean...the REST of them?" The voice asked him. Mr Brainfreeze started to laugh.

"Let's just say that in the next 24 hours, the only pink you'll be seeing is in my sprinkles." He laughed maniacally in response. The man in the throne leant back out of view, resting his staff against its stand on the side of his throne.

"That's what I like to hear." He replied.

In her room on the Red Galleon, Emma was lying in bed, wrapped up in blankets. Although she wasn't really terribly injured as a result of the battle, Mr Brainfreeze had found another way to debilitate her.

She had loved ice cream all her days, ever since the first time her dad had taken her to get some after a long nature walk in Arizona when she was six. Even then, she loved nature, taking a lot after her mother, and her dad had taken them both on holiday to Arizona to see some of the species that she didn't get a chance to see back home in their natural habitat.

In the summer especially, Arizona was blisteringly hot though. It was more or less a desert climate, which was one of the reasons for its unique wildlife and plant life. Emma had loved nature, and enjoyed her walk, but as the day went on, the heat played on her more and more, and by the time they happened upon a small cafe, a small shack with no budget for luxuries like Air Conditioning, she was starting to suffer more than a little. That was when her father had told her he knew the perfect cure, and presented her with a Knickerbocker Glory.

She was in love from the first bite. No matter how many times she had ended up with a blistering headache when she ate just a little too fast, there was nothing better for her than a long nature walk on a hot summer's day, followed by a helping of ice cream.

She pulled the covers around herself more tightly, and cradled her head in her hand. She could feel the familiar throbbing pain just behind her eyes, blurring her vision. The room was in complete darkness, even the smallest amount of light making her pain worse. She felt ill, her stomach in knots. Troy had stayed with her for a time, but after a while, she had insisted she wanted to try and rest.

It was a vain hope, as time passed; her headache prevented her from even trying to sleep. She just lay in the dark, trying to stay warm, hoping that in time the sensation would pass. She barely stirred as the door opened a short way, and Tensou flew in, carrying a tray in his claws, placing it down.

"How is everyone?" She mumbled as he laid down the glass.

"Everyone is fine." He assured her. "I believe it is more pride that has been wounded than anything else."

"What about Orion?" She asked. "He was burned by that fudge, he was held in it for a while..."

"His wounds were superficial." Tensou assured her. "At least...they appeared to be. He went into his room shortly after I treated them. I haven't seen him since."

"He spends all his time in his room." Emma complained. "How does he believe he'll convince the others he's part of this if he doesn't join us?"

"Perhaps in time he will." Tensou suggested. "I've spoken with him a little. I think he finds it comforting."

Emma thought about this for a moment. She had seen Orion talking at times with Tensou, mostly in Andresian. Although Gia had learned a few words, Tensou was the only one of them that could speak the language fluently. As far as anyone knew, Orion was the only one that had escaped the slaughter of Andresia, she imagined that he would take some comfort in anything that reminded him of his home before that fateful day.

"Tensou, do...do you mind me asking what you talk about?" She asked him. Tensou landed on the table beside her and looked to her.

"Why don't you ask Orion?" He asked her.

"He doesn't really talk much." Emma reminded him. Tensou had to concede that was true. He didn't really feel comfortable talking about any of them behind their backs. His programming did, of course, allow him to betray a confidence if he felt that one of the team was in jeopardy, for instance, if he had knowledge of something medically wrong with them that they didn't divulge to the team. However, at least part of his place on the team did require an element of discretion. The team were far from home, and their families. Sometimes they would confide in him if things were getting on top of them. Aside from anything else, he didn't really think he was betraying anything telling her what Orion talked to him about.

"Nothing really." Tensou told her. "Sometimes he talks about the food, other times the weather...he's even asked about the ship at times. I think he just takes some comfort hearing someone else speaking Andresian."

Emma shifted a little on her bed, looking straight at Tensou.

"I saw him in his room before." She said, recalling the odd scene before. "He had his eyes closed, and he was chanting something in Andresian."

Tensou just looked at her.

"What was he saying?" He asked. Emma shook her head.

"I don't know, I didn't recognise any of it." Emma continued. She held up her wrist. "He was...kind of playing with his bracelet...tapping it..."

"Dreekoosha." Tensou declared as soon as he heard this. Emma just stared at him blankly.

"What's that?" She asked him.

"Well, the best way to say it is, he was praying." Tensou told her. "He was praying to the Earth Gods of Andresia."

"He was praying?" She asked him. She thought about it for a moment, and thinking about the ritual, it made a certain amount of sense. People prayed in a lot of different ways, observed a lot of different rituals that would seem unusual to those that didn't observe their ways. She wasn't especially religious herself, none of them really were. Jake had gone to temple on the Sabbath a couple of times, but he generally only observed the High Holidays before their journey. She hadn't really thought much about the idea that Orion might be religious. "Who was he praying to? You said something about the Earth Gods?"

"The Earth Gods of Andresia." Tensou reiterated. "Without explaining too much, the Andresian people always had a strong reliance on their planet, in particular on the Earth."

"Orion said most of his people were miners." Emma said, thinking about what she had heard. In some ways it made a lot of sense. From what little she knew about religions, they tended to be based on what was important to people in a society. The ancient Greeks put a heavy emphasis on Poseidon, the God of the sea, because as a sea-faring people, sailing was a vital part of their survival. "They worshipped the Earth?"

"The earth provided most of the life-blood of their way of life." Tensou explained to her. "The soil provided their crops, the rocks provided their building materials, the deep earth provided their minerals and metals..."

"Everything that built their society came from the Earth." Emma concluded. "So, he's religious?"

"I didn't think much of it before, his bracelet...the closest thing I can think of as an analogy is that it's kind of like a rosary. The Andresians would use it to keep track of their prayers." He explained. "I suppose he still observes his faith now."

"Would you mind telling me more about his religion?" Emma asked Tensou. She didn't know enough about it, and didn't really want to invade his privacy, but hearing that he had a faith, one that was so important to him that he still observed it, even when everything else was gone was actually a comforting thought. He still had something from his world to keep him going.

"I...I guess I could compile a database for you to look at." He told her. "But only if you promise to get some rest.

"I promise." Emma replied, taking the glass. Her hand was trembling as she took it, and she almost spilled it, but after taking some of the painkillers, she put it down, and lay down, pulling her blankets around her. Tensou left her, going back outside, to where Troy and Noah were waiting. They had been keeping track of Emma's condition while the others rested up for when Mr Brainfreeze returned.

"How is she?" He asked Tensou. The little robot just looked to him.

"It's not looking good." He admitted. "Her temperature keeps dropping. I've already turned up the heat in the room."

"Damn it." Troy grumbled. "He's freezing her?"

"It...it looks that way." Tensou told him. "I can do what I can here, but..."

"But we can't stop it." Troy interrupted him, slamming a fist into the wall. Noah just went to his side.

"We'll find a way." Noah assured him.

"Noah, my girlfriend is slowly turning into a popcicle!" Troy reminded him. "I need answers, and I need them now!"

"Look, that monster, it's not an alien like the others right?" Noah asked. "Its powers aren't based on technology, they're based on magic right?"

"Yeah, what's that got to do with anything?" Troy asked him.

"Magic relies on the will of the one casting the spell; we learned that from the Mystics." Noah reminded him. "So if we take out Mr Brainfreeze..."

"And what if he decides to just hide somewhere, wait until Emma's frozen solid?" Troy asked him. "We need to be more pro-active about this. We can't just wait and hope he shows up! Even if he does, you saw how we fared last time!"

"Troy, this isn't going to help anyone!" Noah reminded him.

"No, it's not." Troy told him. "But getting this team on the same page is."

"Well, how do you plan on doing that?" Noah asked him. Troy just shook his head.

"I really don't know." Troy answered. "I wish I did."

On the deck of the ship, Gia was taking some time to get some fresh air after the battle. She didn't even notice as Kat came up onto the deck, hobbling a little as she went. She'd managed to locate a crutch to help her walk around. She found Gia leaning on the edge, looking out over the city.

"It's quite a city isn't it?" Kat asked her. "Can you believe when I came here, I only planned on staying four years?"

"That's the thing about plans, they change." Gia replied. "There was a time I thought that around this time, I'd be graduating High School, then kind of burning time until college started."

"Yeah, but things like that change don't they?" Kat added as she came to the side with her. "I...I couldn't help noticing you seemed to be a little quiet after our talk earlier."

"I guess I'm just not used to getting my butt kicked by a dessert." Gia grumbled. Kat just sat on the rail, setting her crutch aside.

"I couldn't help noticing that it was after I told you my name." Kat commented. "I hope you don't mind, but I talked to Jake. He explained about Cat. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"I know, it's stupid." Gia told her. "It's not like it's your fault your names are similar."

She forced a small laugh and shook her head.

"It's all so stupid." Gia commented. "How many people ever end up with their first crush? I know that we were both young, that it was a great time in our lives...I know in my head the odds weren't great we'd end up together for good..."

"But it's not the head that matters in these things." Kat interrupted her gently. "The first one always stings, no matter how much you rationalise it."

"I still really miss her." Gia admitted. "If she was here right now, standing right here, I have no idea what I'd say to her."

"That feeling passes." Kat assured her. "It hurts, but it gets better. Everyone moves on eventually."

"It sounds like you're talking from experience." Gia answered. "I'm guessing it was one of your team?"

"Actually...my first boyfriend turned out to be a putty Rita had put a spell on to lure me to her, before turning me into a slave and sending me to destroy Kimberly." Kat told her. "I guess it should be cathartic that she liquidised him, but...oddly I did kind of miss him. He was a pretty decent guy until he turned back into a putty."

"Wow, and I thought my first ended badly." Gia stated.

"Well, the thing about it is, as much as it hurt, it did lead to some pretty good things down the line." Kat told her. "I made some amazing friends...I even had another great relationship out of it. Sure, it didn't work out, but that's just life. Sometimes things don't work out, but you can't be upset about trying them if you come out the other side better off as a result."

Gia just nodded in response as Kat put her arm around her.

"Well, that isn't really an option for me." Gia answered with a smile. "There's kind of a shortage of available girls on this team."

"Well, there's no rush getting into anything." Kat answered. "I'm sure some day you'll find someone and you'll make each other very happy."

"Thanks Kat." Gia answered. "It means a lot coming from someone that's been there."

"Well, in the meantime, I think I might be able to help out with your little Ice-Cream problem." Kat told her. "I believe you said you were looking for me when that thing blew the place up."

"Yeah, we were." Gia told her. Kat just smiled.

"Well, I get the feeling it wasn't really me you were looking for." She answered, putting a hand in her pocket. She pulled out the five Zeo Ranger keys.

"The Ranger Keys!" Gia called out. Kat just nodded.

"They appeared shortly after those aliens started invading." Kat told her. "I had a feeling they were important, so I hid them away for safe keeping. I had a feeling that sooner or later you and your team would come by."

She handed the keys to Gia, looking to her as she smiled brightly, inspecting the keys thoughtfully.

"I have a feeling you'll get more use out of them than I will." Kat told her, hugging her tightly. "Use them well."

Meanwhile, back in the cave, Mr Brainfreeze could feel himself bursting with power, the energies of the pale blue light suffusing him with all the power he had lost. He felt stronger, and more powerful even than before. As he lowered to the ground, he looked to his hands as they tightened into fists.

"Yes...YES! I can feel it!" Mr Brainfreeze called out. He launched a blast at the wall of the cave, creating massive sheets of ice. The wall fell apart, straining under the weight of the ice.

"Do not waste your energies as you did before." The voice reprimanded him. "Your one and only task is to defeat the Rangers."

"I keep telling you, the Pink Ranger will be an ice-cube within hours." Mr Brainfreeze assured him. "The others..."

"I need more than assurances!" He roared angrily. "I want results!"

"My Lord, I..."

"Do this, and I will give you all the power you will ever need!" He declared regally. "Fail me, and you will end up a puddle on the floor!"

Mr Brainfreeze just gulped as he realised that his master was serious, and left without another word.

Back on the Red Galleon, the alarm sounded, raising the Rangers' attention, and bringing them all to the centre of the room, all except for Emma, who was still resting.

"Well, I guess we don't need to go looking for him after all." Noah commented. "Our giant walking snow cone is back."

"Where's Emma?" Gia asked.

"Emma's going to have to sit this one out." Troy told them.

"Wait...what?" Jake asked. "She had a headache! Why...?"

"It's a lot more serious than that." Noah told them. "As near as we can tell, her temperature keeps dropping. If it continues to drop at this rate, by this time tomorrow...she'll be completely frozen solid."

"We have to..."

"There's nothing we can do for her here." Noah assured her. "We're doing everything we can, but as near as we can tell, it's a spell that's doing this. We need to destroy it at the source."

"Then let's go and do it!" Orion snapped.

"Yeah, because that approach worked so well last time!" Jake said sarcastically.

"Do you REALLY think that's going to help?" Kat asked.

"The last time, he ran in on his own!" Jake protested. "He doesn't work with the team, he is completely..."

"Hey!" Orion snapped. "Don't talk about me like I'm not even here, if you have something to say, say it to my face!"

"Do you think I'm afraid to?" Jake asked.

"ENOUGH!" Kat yelled, causing both of them to look at her. "God, do you think you're the only team that had problems? Tommy and Jason had their moments. There were times Tonyah and I could barely stand each other at the beginning!"

"Kat..."

"You don't like each other, I get that, no one said you have to!" Kat told them. "But Emma's in there, and she needs you both right now, so is your petty grudge match more important to you than her?"

Both of them started to back down, realising that she had a point. Orion looked to Troy.

"I know I haven't been the best at working as part of the team. I don't know what my place is here yet." He told him. "When I was on a team in the mine, we didn't need to talk about it. Everyone knew their role. I guess I need to figure out mine here. Tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it."

"Alright, we go in with everything we have this time." Troy told them. "We let his appearance get us into a false sense of security last time. We can't afford for that to happen again."

"Alright, then let's go." Jake said, standing ready.

"There's just one problem." Gia stated. "We're still a Ranger down."

"Maybe." Troy said, gripping Emma's morpher in his hand, before looking up to Kat. "Maybe not."

The others just looked around at Kat, who seemed reluctant at first. She eventually put her crutch up against the wall, before holding out her hand.

"So much for retirement." She commented as Troy handed her Emma's morpher.


	6. The Return of Mr Brainfreeze

Troy, Jake, Noah, Gia and Kat ran, well, sort of hobbled in Kat's case, through the streets as they ran to confront Mr Brainfreeze. It was good luck that he had come back, they knew that the spell he had placed on Emma was taking hold of her was progressing with each passing moment. At first, they thought he had only afflicted her with a crippling headache that affected her vision, but Tensou's tests had shown something far more troubling. Her temperature was gradually dropping, and despite all their efforts, all they could do was slow its descent. He had warned them that if it progressed, within 24 hours, she would be frozen solid...the more troubling thought was that before that happened, she would likely die of hypothermia. They didn't know how long she had; a lot of it depended on her strength. As they arrived outside Buckingham Palace, they found Mr Brianfreeze attacking the Scot's Guard. Kat doubled over, resting her hands on her thighs to catch her breath.

"This was so much easier when we could teleport." He complained, before straightening up and composing herself. This time, the Rangers had chosen to arrive in their pirate outfits, thinking that this time it would be helpful if people recognised them and they could convince them to leave of their own accord. Kat wasn't exactly out of shape, years of dancing after her Ranger days had left her in pretty good shape, but the fact was that it was nowhere near the workout she used to get in battles. The fact she was also running on one good leg really didn't help matters.

"Get out of here!" Troy called to the Scot's Guard, helping one of them up.

"We can't, it's our..."

"The Queen isn't in residence!" Gia reminded him, pointing to the flag pole on the roof. By tradition, the flag always flew at full height over the palace when the reigning monarch was in residence. It was a tradition that led to a somewhat macabre incidence across the years, whereas other banners would fly at half-mast in respect when a royal died, the banner above the monarch's place of residence always flew at full mast, since the monarch was always in residence. As soon as the previous monarch died, the title would pass to the next. The phrase "the King is dead, long live the King" had been the ultimate example of the British mentality to carry on, taking no time to sink into despair no matter how tough things got. "Do you really want to die for a building?"

"But...you're pirates!" Another of the Guard protested. "We can't abandon the palace to..."

"Do you REALLY think we want to take anything?" Jake asked him. He pointed to Mr Brainfreeze, who was currently keeping more of his comrades hiding in cover, with a storm of razor-sharp sprinkles. "We can always leave you to him."

The captain thought about it for a moment, it didn't take long for him to see sense in their point of view.

"Fall back!" He called to his unit. "Defend the interior!"

Troy handed the Captain his Bearskin as they ran off, leaving them alone in the yard with Mr Brainfreeze. The monster faced off against them, cackling as he did so.

"I see you're back!" He greeted them, looking around. "Though not all of you."

"You're going to pay for what you did to Emma!" Troy roared, struggling to contain his anger with the creature that threatened the life of his girlfriend. "Take your spell off her, and we'll make this quick! If you don't, we'll ensure you suffer to your last breath!"

"Big words for a man with a team that's already one short." Mr Brainfreeze taunted him.

"Actually, they have a substitute." Kat informed him. Mr Brainfreeze just looked to her for a moment, before bursting out laughing.

"You bring an old woman to battle with you?" He said derisively.

"OLD?" Kat screamed in response. "I'm only 35!"

"Let's show him what we're made of." Troy replied. "Orion, you and Gia go left; Kat, you and Noah go right. Jake, you're with me."

With that, they all morphed and rushed towards Mr Brinfreeze. He reached for his Cherry Bomb, but seeing it coming, Troy and Jake opened fire, hitting it with their blasters, and setting it off in his hands, sending him flying, screaming in agony as cream sprayed in all directions.

Back on the Red Galleon, Emma was in her room, bundled up in blankets. The Rangers hadn't told her about her condition, but by now it didn't escape her that her condition was a lot more serious than she had been led to believe. Her head was pounding, even in complete darkness. She felt incredibly ill, but most of all, she felt cold, and seemed to get colder all the time, no matter how many blankets were brought to her. She had been willing to believe it was just down to being ill, and the fact the climate in the United Kingdom was considerably colder than the climate she was used to in California, but now she was still shivering under six blankets, with the heating turned up to the max, it was pretty clear that the cold she felt was not natural.

Tensou came in to check on her, carrying a tray in his claws. It had a couple of hot water bottles, and a bowl of steaming hot soup.

"How are you feeling?" Tensou asked her.

"My head's still killing me." Emma informed him. "I'm still cold."

"This should help." Tensou told her, setting the tray down.

"For how long?" Emma asked him. Tensou just looked to her. "Tensou, I'm not stupid. I know I shouldn't be this cold...I've been camping enough times to know how to deal with cold."

"Emma..."

"Just...just tell me straight." She interrupted him. Tensou didn't want to tell her, to risk upsetting her, but he couldn't lie to her, especially since it seemed she had already figured it out. She was just asking for confirmation of what she already knew.

"It's a spell." He confirmed. "Your temperature is dropping steadily. We're trying to slow it down, but...there's nothing we can do. We need to destroy Mr Brainfreeze to stop it."

Emma just nodded in understanding. He had been camping many times, and cold was always an issue. She knew all too well about the dangers of hypothermia. She looked to Tensou.

"I need to...I need to keep my mind on...something." She muttered out weakly. "Have you downloaded what I asked you to?"

"I did." He told her. "It'll be on your tablet now."

Emma thanked him as he left. She reached out for her tablet, and winced as she did so. Her hand tingled, and felt like ice almost as soon as it escaped the blankets. She picked up the tablet, and pulled it over, booting it up. She found the files that Tensou had given her, a form of synopsis of the main points of the Andresian faith, and smiled. She knew enough about religion to know that it would take a lifetime to really understand it. People studied their scriptures for years and didn't fully understand them. All she wanted was to lay the groundwork of understanding what was important to Orion, in the hopes of somehow understanding their new ally, and perhaps...turning him into a friend.

"At the Dawntime, before the men worked the lands, there was nothing, not even the rocks upon which the First Men built their homes." Emma began reading. "One day, the almighty All Father, the first of the Gods, created himself within the nothingness of the stars. He saw infinite possibilities in the separate and disconnected materials of the floating mass, and began his great work of combining them. He formed the molten mass with his own hand, and with his great breath, cooled the surface of the great globe, and thus he created the first world and named it Andresia."

She saw a little marker next to this point, and moved a cursor over it, seeing it was a link. She opened it, and realised it was notes from Tensou. It explained that this was their understanding of how Magma from within their planet's core hardened into the surface of the planet. She closed the note, and continued reading.

"He gazed upon his work, and smiled, he loved his new world so much, he descended to the planet to live upon his creation. In time, he loved his creation so much he longed for family to share it with, and thus he begat the First Men."

Back at Buckingham Palace, the battle was fierce as the Rangers threw everything they had at Mr Brainfreeze, desperate to destroy him before it was too late to save Emma. Jake took a hit from Mr Brainfreeze's straw staff, throwing him high into the air, and propelling him through one of the windows. The impact almost knocked him clean unconscious.

"Damned security." Jake grumbled. It wasn't the first time he'd gone through windows, and he knew this one had to have been reinforced. It wouldn't have shocked him that the windows of the palace that housed the sitting monarch would likely be bullet proof. Mr Brainfreeze followed him, tumbling to the floor as Orion leapt in the window after him, his Silver Spear flashing through the air. He brought it down, slicing through his staff as Mr Brainfreeze tried to block it.

He fired off some more of his hot fudge, but this time it missed Orion. He threw himself aside in time, but it caught his Silver Spear, pinning it to a wall.

"Orion!" Jake called out, throwing over his blaster. Orion caught it, firing into the monster as Jake rushed across, hacking at his exposed back. He only stopped as something squirted him in the face, blocking his visor, before he got smashed backwards through some antique furniture. The other Rangers arrived in the room, forming up.

"This brings back some memories." Kat commented. "I mean, the weapons take some getting used to..."

"Well, let's try something a little more familiar." Troy answered with a smile, pulling out the Red Zeo Key. "Guys, time for a quick power boost!"

"Zeo Ranger One Pink!" Kat called out, turning her pink Zeo Key in her morpher. She felt the energy coursing through her, and as she looked to herself in her old outfit, she couldn't help smiling. Although she had also been the Pink Turbo and the second Pink Mighty Morphin' Ranger, the Zeo powers were the ones she had used the most, and was most familiar with. She converted her Zeo Laser into sword mode. "Now THIS I remember!"

"Zeo Ranger Two, Yellow!" Gia called out, changing and bringing out her Zeo Laser Sword. "Hey, save some for the rest of us!"

The others all changed into their counterparts, rushing to the attack. Orion watched for a moment, uncertain about his next move. He had only used a different power once. As he held his morpher, it called to him, and he could hear a voice assuring him of what he had to do. He put the Gold Zeo Ranger key into the box and scanned it.

"Gold Ranger Power!" He yelled as he ran at Mr Brainfreeze, bringing his Gold Zeo Staff to bear, bludgeoning the creature mercilessly. As they hit him, over and over, each of them could only think about Emma, about her life ebbing away slowly, and it renewed their determination. Even when they were hit and knocked back, adrenaline brought them back to their feet instantly, and caused them to renew their attack.

"Power's almost out!" Troy yelled. "Let's change it up! Turbo!"

Troy, Jake, Noah, Gia and Kat all transformed into their Turbo Ranger forms, while Orion turned back into his Corsair mode. They didn't have a sixth Turbo Ranger key. He heard a voice within him telling him to free his weapon. He ran to the wall, finding it still stuck fast. He reached to it, trying to dig it out, but the viscous fluid was too hot. That was when he had an idea. He put the Silver RPM Ranger key into his morpher, transforming and bringing up his Cloud Hatchet.

"Ice Mode!" He yelled, casting out a mist that froze the fudge solid. He struck it, finding it starting to crack. He smiled as he realised his idea had worked. Now that it was solid, it was brittle.

"Hurry up Orion!" Jake told him, seeing him trying to free his weapon. "We're burning through a lot of power here!"

"One more!" Troy announced. "Mighty Morphin'!"

The team all morphed into their Mighty Morphin' Ranger counterparts, renewing their assault. Orion worked hard on trying to free his Silver Spear. He finally managed to get it free of the wall, and swung it, smashing the rest of the fudge from the tip of it.

Kat was sent sprawling across the floor, and as she tried to get back up though, she slipped, hitting the floor. She looked down, and saw that the floor beneath her feet was slick with something, a thin, white fluid. She inspected some of it between her fingers and realised what it was.

"Damn it, it's like beating marshmallow!" Jake complained as he got up once more, snatching up his Power Axe. "It's like cutting into..."

"ICE CREAM!" Kat screamed. "Guys...he's made of ice cream!"

"Huh?" Noah grunted as he rubbed the back of his head, struggling to get up, propping himself up on his Power Lance.

"He weakens as the fight goes on because of the heat!" Kat explained. "It's summer!"

"Summer?" Jake complained. "I'm freezing my ass off here!"

"It's London, not California!" Kat reminded him. "But it's still hot enough...beating him doesn't work, he's too soft, but he weakens as he gets hotter..."

"Because he's melting!" Troy concluded. "Orion, buy us some time!"

"With Pleasure!" He replied, returning to his Silver Corsair Ranger mode and converting his Silver Spear to blaster mode. He turned his key in the lock as he levelled it at him, before pulling the trigger. Mr Brainfreeze flew across the room, hitting the wall and spraying cream all over the place, the cup having been squashed to half its width. Orion back-flipped with the recoil, grateful that the high roof meant he could complete the manoeuvre without hitting a solid roof. "Alright, it'll take him a while to come back from that! Whatever you're planning, now's the time!"

"Alright, time to turn up the heat!" Troy instructed them as they all changed. He took on the form of the Red Samurai Ranger and Gia the Red Mystic Ranger. They both started to build up their powers as Mr Brainfreeze started to recover.

"You're going nowhere!" Kat told him as she, Jake and Noah all opened fire with their blasters, pinning him in place before he could flee. Troy and Gia used all their anger, channelling it into the flames, sending forth an inferno that completely consumed Mr Brainfreeze. He screamed out in agony and the air was filled with the stench of burning milk.

"Keep pouring it on!" Noah cried out. "It's working!"

They kept it up until Mr Brainfreeze was no more, leaving only scorch marks on the floor and wall, and the stench of burnt milk.

"Something tells me Her Majesty isn't going to be happy with us wrecking her throne room." Noah commented. None of them answered though, Troy had already pulled out his morpher, and was calling up the Red Galleon.

"Tensou!" He called through the communicator. "Tensou, we destroyed him...is Emma?"

"Her temperature is starting to rise!" Tensou said excitedly. "You did it guys, you saved her!"

"That's great news!" Noah replied as they breathed a collective sigh of relief. Jake suddenly sprinted across the room.

"Jake?" Gia called out. "What are you doing?"

"Take a picture!" He called out as he threw himself onto a throne. They all furrowed their brows at him.

"Really Jake?" Gia asked him. "I mean...really?"

"Come on, when are we ever going to be left unattended in the throne room again?" He asked, sitting up regally on the chair, posing. "Call me Jake I, King of England!"

"Jake, show some respect." Kat chuckled, pulling him up off the throne. "I thought Rocky was bad."

As they turned and were about to leave though, they saw something in the shadows. Someone had come into the room, and was watching them. They could see a glowing red eye. Kat strained to see, but gasped as she saw something familiar...even in the darkness, she could recognise..."

"The Z staff." She said. "That's Lord Zedd's staff!"

"Why do I get the feeling that Mr Brainfreeze thing was down to you?" Troy asked. The stranger just reared back a hand, throwing a grenade in their direction before disappearing. The Rangers threw themselves aside as it flew past them.

They all started to get up as they realised the grenade didn't explode. Troy looked to it sitting on the puddle that used to be Mr Brainfreeze.

"OK, I was expecting something a little more..." Jake tailed off as all of a sudden, it started sparking. Before they knew it, energy engulfed the cream, and started to reform it. He sighed as the others all stared at him. "Yeah, I know...I really need to learn to shut up!"


	7. The End of Mr Brainfreeze

Emma was sitting upright in her bed, covers bundled around her to stop her from freezing to death. She had always loved nature, even the parts that weren't exactly nice. It was a sick irony that water, the very thing humans relied on, in the majority of the world's water sources was salt water...a substance that was deadly to them if they drank it. The sun, which was necessary for plants to grow and even to provide humans the warmth they needed to live also emitted radiation that would cause skin cancer. Even the air people breathed was technically speaking carcinogenic. The world...to put it bluntly...was a mess.

Emma already knew there was a chance her time was coming to a close. She was sitting in a room with the air conditioning cranked up to maximum heat, and about half a dozen blankets wrapped around her because the latest monster had apparently hit her with a spell that would lead to her freezing to death. She had faced death before, but all things considered, if she was going to see her end, hypothermia was not the worst way to go as far as she was aware.

She continued to read into the files Tensou had given her. She was determined that if this was to be her final hours, she would use them to fill out her understanding of the universe around her. Orion came from another planet, one she had never even heard of until only a couple of weeks ago. She knew there were other planets, and other civilisations because of her time studying Ranger lore, but knowing there was at least one whole world, an entire civilisation she had no knowledge of, blew her mind. She liked to think of herself as enlightened because she cared about the Earth, but since the Siler Ranger had arrived, she was beginning to believe she was not even a speck of dust in a cosmos she couldn't hope to understand.

She read the files Tensou gave her, documenting the faith of Andresia...or at least...one of them. It was apparently what Orion believed in.

"And as the days and the years passed, the All Father watched his First Men grow and disperse." She read aloud. "They went to different parts of His globe, and they chose to worship Him or not as they saw fit. The First Men were blessed with his presence for almost 63 years before one day he declared he had nothing left to give and bade his farewell."

She stopped, clicking another of Tensou's links to a note. The Andresians, or at least, those of The Faith, were descended from the First Men. They had not only believed in their Gods, but they believed their Gods had walked among them. That their Gods had once been human just like them.

"One day, when his hair was long, and white, and his beard the same, the All Father declared to the people that he was leaving them to seek out those who did not believe and teach them as he had the First Men." She continued reading. "He removed his cloak, and gave it to the first of his bloodline, his first true daughter Andresia, and declared she would lead the First Men from then on, before he left the village and was never seen again."

Emma stopped, taking a moment to process this. She clicked the link, but found she already knew what it said. It seemed likely that the All Father was a man, a particularly wise and strong leader that knew his time was coming to an end. He believed that if he died as a mere man, his lessons would be lost. His eldest child, his first daughter was named Andresia, the name that had ended up becoming the name of the planet.

Emma felt a warm wave wash over her, something she couldn't explain, as she started to read the scriptures of the First Daughter.

In London, the Mr Brainfreeze monster had grown to massive size, and was storming through central London. He had already laid waste to the London Eye by the time the Rangers had formed the Megazord. Kat was taking up Emma's usual spot as they faced off against him.

"OK, this has gone far enough!" Troy declared. "I am OFFICIALLY sick of ice-cream!"

"We're going to need a HUGE oven to melt him this time." Jake agreed.

"We'll take him down if we have to take him one bite at a time!" Gia snapped in response. "SPD!"

The Megazord took on its SPD mode, its blasters spinning into its hands. They dived aside as Mr Brainfreeze launched a barrage of sprinkled their way, firing into its body, each hit exploding with the heat of a nuclear reactor.

"OK, we need a LOT more heat." Jake commented.

Back in her room, Emma could hear the battle going on, but by virtue of the Zord's safety protocols, her room wasn't rattling her around inside like a pinball. She knew they were involved in a battle, but her room was not badly affected. If anything, it was now becoming warm, almost stifling. She could now feel her fingertips. She had no idea what was happening outside, but she found that she pretty much didn't care. She was much too involved in her scriptures.

"And so Andresia watched her people hunt in the forests and forage for fruits." She read aloud. "But in the winter, and in lean times, times were difficult. Andresia spoke often about the bounty of the All Father's soil, and her subjects would not listen. One day, she happened upon a rich field in the bleakest of winters...one that fed all of the First Men for the whole winter. She sat and studied it, and learned of its secret. The animals came not only to graze, but they went to breathe their last. Where their bodies rested, the plants grew stronger. It was then she saw the villagers of the Second Men building a funeral pyre, and she wept, for she knew that their ignorance denied the All Father's creation of the return of its property in the Great Cycle. And so it was that the war between the First and Second Men began."

She stopped as she read this, looking around for something to drink. She took a long gulp of orange juice, realising what she was reading. It was Andresia's first Holy War.

Meanwhile, the Rangers brought their smoking Megazord up to its feet as they faced off against Mr Brainfreeze.

"God, who knew ice-cream could be so tough?" Jake complained.

"Have you ever tried digging into a tub of choc chip straight out the freezer?" Noah asked him. "It's like concrete!"

"We need more power!" Gia answered.

"You want power? You got it!" Orion barked as he slammed the Quantum Ranger key into his morpher. "Q-Rex Drill!"

In Buckingham Palace, the Voice stood, watching events unfold. He only barely glanced over his shoulder as Damaras teleported into the room.

"You took longer than I expected." He said regally.

"I wasn't certain it was you." Damaras answered as he started to pace. "I needed to see for myself."

"Now you have?" He asked.

"It is difficult to know the next move when you can't see the pieces on the board." Damaras commented.

"I believe you know where your interests lie." The Voice answered.

"You bastard." Damaras replied as he smirked.

"That I am." The Voice replied as Damaras teleported away. "Thank the Gods for that."

As the Megazord battle raged on, Emma continued her reading.

The Holy War had carried on for many generations...she didn't really know how long because she didn't know how Andresia measured their days, and so it was impossible to tell, but the tales spoke of granddaughters burying their veteran grand fathers...so she guessed it had to be at least around thirty years or more. At least long enough for a whole generation to be born into the conflict.

It all sounded so silly on the face of it. It was born of Andresia objecting to another village burning their dead as opposed to burying them and allowing their decomposing corpses to fertilise the Earth for future generations. It was a war that raged for more than one lifetime by the sounds of things. Until...

"The Great Winter came, and the land was frozen solid." She read. "Reikhard, the Grandson of Andresia saw his people freezing in the forests and upon the plains. He saw those that spent their time toiling to kill in the name of their All Father dying in their beds at night...it was then that he saw that those that found caves survived...and so he laid stone upon stone and built a cave of his own. When His people asked why he didn't take up a spear in the name of his Grandmother, he explained his actions, and taught them to build their own homes. By the time the winter was over, the Second Men had suffered so many losses to the wind and the cold that the war was swift and the First Men were victorious."

The Rangers rounded on Mr Brainfreeze as the Mystic Dragon returned to them. They had already exhausted the power of the SPD mode.

Orion sliced into his back with his Trident Fist, causing Mr Brainfreeze to scream out in agony, even as his viscous, creamy biology started to reform.

"Yam Uoy Eb Reverof Denmad!" He screamed, in a voice full of hate and anger. They all could tell he was speaking Andresian, but none of them were fluent enough to know what he was saying. "Yam uoy reven dnif eht lla srehtaf ycrem!" He screamed as he hammered into him ferociously. "Uoy od ton evresed t noijer eht htrae sdog! Nrub ot uoy nmad I!"

The creature exploded in a huge fireball, praying ice-cream over virtually the whole city. The Rangers couldn't help laughing as they saw kids running into the street.

"Well, at least someone's happy." Gia commented.

"Indeed." Troy replied. "That's a Super Mega Win."

"I thought you said you'd never say that again." Noah commented.

"OK, even for my day that was dorky." Kat said with a defeated shake of the head. Troy sighed.

"Yeah...I really need to get better lines." He answered.

Later, the Rangers were on the Red Galleon, celebrating their win. All except for Tensou, who despite the drama, was somewhat mourning the loss of the Mr Brainfreeze costume. For a while now, whoever had to smash him over the head had to wear it for an hour. The Rangers were his friends, and he didn't really want to see them hurt, but the fact was he really didn't appreciate being smashed over the head any time they needed a clue where to look for the next set of Ranger keys. Now the costume was gone...he didn't know how he was going to go on with the rest of their journey.

Gia came over to the corner where Kat was casually sipping some wine as she watched them all celebrate.

"17 years." Gia commented as she took a slug of her drink. "If I kick half as much ass at your age, I'll be happy."

"I think you're on the right track." Kat commented. "You looked better in the Yellow than Tanya ever did."

Gia just looked at her, at which Kat shrugged.

"I was a teenager, there may have been some...experimentation." She answered.

"I thought you guys couldn't stand each other." Gia replied. Kat again just shrugged.

"Like I said, we were kids. What seems important then isn't such a big deal in a few months, never mind a couple of years." Kat told her. "There was a time I was sure I'd end up with Tommy with a whole bunch of kids and...well...yeah that didn't happen."

Kat saw the way Gia was staring at her and smiled.

"What I went through was a phase. I know some people experiment, and I was one of them." Kat told her. "You're an amazing woman that anyone would be lucky to be with."

She cradled Gia's face with her hand, and softly kissed her on the cheek.

"It gets easier." She told her. "Trust me."

"Listen um..." Gia stammered as she flicked a thumb in the direction of the floor. "Should we be dancing or something?"

"Hey, even in my day we blew off some steam after a battle." Kat assured her, taking Gia's hand. "How about I show you a few moves I learned at the Royal Ballet?"

Up on the deck though, Orion was not with the others. Jake had noticed and he had brought up some food. Orion was kneeling, facing out over the rail, tapping his bracelet with his fingertips.

"I thought you might like some food." Jake told him. "It's...um...it's just some stuffed mushrooms."

Orion didn't answer, continuing his chanting. Jake just shook his head.

"If you want to be an ignorant prick, then fine." He said as he left. He bumped into Emma as she arrived on the deck. "Don't bother, he's in a mood or something."

Emma just ignored Jake as he left. She approached him slowly and quietly, not wanting to interrupt his prayers.

"Orion?" She asked, hoping not to disrupt an important part of his ritual. She'd read some of the cliff-notes of his faith, but she knew people spent their whole lifetimes studying scriptures and never really understood their religion. He stopped his chanting and turned slowly towards her.

"Emma." He answered matter-of-factly, like his thoughts were elsewhere. Emma wasn't religious herself, but she knew people that were, and knew how important ritual was to them. He knew he wasn't really focused entirely on her.

"Have you finished your...Dreekoosha?" She asked tentatively. Orion snapped to his feet, and his face seemed to twist in anger as he heard this.

"You've been spying on me." He muttered.

"Orion, I..."

"You've been SPYING ON ME!" He barked angrily. Emma knew that she had inadvertently crossed a boundry. She had thought that his faith might be something they could bond over, that she could demonstrate she understood him and his people.

"Orion, I just..."

"Stay OUT of my business Emma!" He said coldly. As he started to walk away, Emma gulped, realising her error. He hadn't taken her attempt to learn his faith as a compliment, he had taken it as an insult. He thought she was mocking what was important to him.

"Orion, I'm sorry." She rushed out. "Can...can I ask one question?"

He just stood and stared at her.

"Your people bury their dead. They believe cremation is a sin because it denies the Earth their minerals." She said. "You destroy your enemies..."

"For what they did to my people, to my family, my friends...everyone I ever loved, they deserve no less." He told her. "They do not deserve to join the Earth Gods...and I will ensure that none of them will ever earn peace. Every last one of them will burn!"


	8. The Voice Revealed

Kat was being checked over one last time by Tensou before the Rangers could drop her off at her apartment and head off on the next leg of their journey. While her Ranger battle had brought back a lot of memories, it really hadn't helped her leg injury much at all, and it was a lot more of a workout than she really remembered.

"I'd probably suggest going to a hospital." Tensou suggested. "But as long as you keep off it and let it heal properly, there shouldn't be any problem."

"Yeah, because taking a couple of weeks off work is exactly what I need right now." She grumbled. The others looked to her as she said this. She just looked back to them and sighed. "It really isn't your problem."

"You're a Ranger, if you could do with a hand, we'd like to know about it." Troy assured her.

"It's just..." She started, her words tailing off a little. "The dance studio isn't doing so well, and my room-mate's off to look after his mom. I was going to be struggling to make the rent as it is. I could really have done without losing a couple of week's pay into the bargain."

Troy looked to the others, before putting his hand in his pocket. Thanks in part to Jake's gross miscalculation of how much things cost in the UK as opposed to America, they had secured five thousand pounds sterling from a pawn shop for some of Blackbeard's treasures. They'd only been in England for two days, and in that time, they really hadn't had time to do much in the way of shopping. They still had most of it left. Troy handed her the cash, shocking her in a lot of ways.

"Guys, I can't..." She stammered. "This is too much."

"We only got this for our time here." Jake assured her. "And it's not like we're likely to be back any time in the near future."

"We'd rather you had this than it just sit on the ship doing nothing." Emma agreed. "You helped us out when we needed it. There's no way I was in any condition to fight!"

"Not to mention the rest of us found that thing more than a little difficult to take seriously." Jake reminded her. "How did you guys manage it?"

"It was pretty difficult at times." Kat agreed with a small laugh. "It was pretty rough on Aisha at times though, she had coulrophobia, and for some unknown reason half of the monsters we faced seemed to be clowns of some description."

"Well, I guess if there's one good thing about the whole Ranger thing it's the chance to face your fears." Gia commented. "It's pretty hard to be scared of bugs or dogs or something stupid like that if you face things that can actually kill you every day."

"It definitely worked for Aisha." Kat answered. "Look, I really can't ask you guys..."

"You helped us, it's the least we can do." Noah assured her. "If you really insist on paying us back, how about you take us somewhere we can get some tea and scones. I've always wanted to see what they're like here."

"Tea and scones?" Jake asked him sceptically. Noah just shrugged.

"You have your things, I have mine." He responded. Kat just smiled.

"I think I know just the place." She answered. "So...where's the new guy?"

"He's up on the deck." Troy told her a little coldly. While he didn't know what had been said between them, mainly because Emma didn't want to risk him saying or doing anything to further alienate him after her own attempt to bring him into the group had gone astray. She still hadn't had a chance to convince him that she hadn't meant any offence by asking him about his faith. She hated the thought that her attempt to find something to connect with him about, his love of his planet and respect for its interconnected eco system had been taken as her somehow insulting or making fun of something that obviously meant a great deal to him. "He said he was going up there to train."

"He's still doing the loner thing?" Kat asked them. Jake just shrugged.

"I think it's a Sixth Ranger thing." He told her. "I've heard a lot of the Sixth Rangers were like that."

"Well, Jason didn't. Of course, he was a Ranger before he became the Gold Ranger." She recalled. "Tommy had his moments back in the day apparently."

"I guess the fact he's an alien doesn't help." Noah suggested. "I mean...I know technically he's human, but as far as we know he's the only Andresian left. It has to be a pretty lonely thought."

"He's human?" Kat asked him.

"Biologically speaking yes." Noah confirmed. "It's like...the Karnovians, or the Miranoians. They are human, any differences in them are superficial physical differences accounted for by the difference in the environment of their planet."

"So, there's no reason he couldn't make a home for himself here." Kat asked them.

"Maybe he will one day." Troy said in response. "But right now..."

"I'll go and invite him." Kat told them, getting up. "I have a feeling he'll like English Breakfast."

As she left, the others just headed off in their own directions to get changed into street clothing for their trip into the city.

Up on the deck, Orion was practicing with his Silver Spear. He was trying to work out his frustrations from before. The battle with the Mr Brainfreeze monster had shown him that now; The Armada had new tricks that they were willing to throw at the universe. While normally The Armada claimed planets and subjugated the inhabitants, in the case of Andresia, they had decided that the planet had nothing of value to them, and instead treated its complete destruction as sport. He would never allow any world to face the same fate as his own world.

As he practiced, Kat came onto the deck, seeing him leaping around in an incredible display of athleticism. It was surprising to her just how adept he was in the use of his pole-arm weapon. While she hadn't been hugely interested in Martial Arts beyond the practical aspect of needing to know how to fight back in the day, she had dated Tommy for some time. He was pretty obsessive about the whole subject and used to talk at length about the history behind the styles he practiced. For a guy that had spent a lot of time fighting in close quarters on board ships, using a pole-arm was a strange choice, most pole-arm styles tended to favour battlefield situations where conditions weren't so cramped, but it seemed that Orion had developed a style that was extremely effective, almost using the environment as an extension of his attack patterns.

"Hey, Orion isn't it?" She asked, rousing his attention. He looked around, barely looking at her as he continued his exercises. "Listen, we were all going somewhere..."

"Fine, I'll watch the ship." He grunted as he carried on his practice. Kat just shook her head and came closer.

"We were actually hoping you'd come with us." She told him. "There's this great cafe..."

"Sorry, I tried that stuff before." He told her. "It isn't for me."

"Well, from what I heard it was coffee you tried." Kat told him. "Tea is completely different."

"One ground up bean is just like another." He said as he fought with his imaginary opponent. Kat just smiled.

"Actually, tea is made from leaves." She explained. "It can come from all sorts of plants. We pick them, dry them out, and then boil them."

He paused as he heard this. He turned towards her, coming her way, gripping his spear gently.

"You brew...infusions of leaves?" He asked her. She just nodded. She remembered hearing something about how the Andresians worshipped the Earth, and was suddenly concerned that he was still holding his spear.

"Um...yeah." She responded. He smiled as he approached her, resting his Silver Spear against one of the masts.

"We...we drank something similar on Andresia." He told her. "What was it you called it?"

"Tea." Kat answered.

"We called it Kheelah." He responded. "We sometimes used to use it in some of our ceremonies."

"Well, the plants here might be different than the ones back home," she conceded, "but if you'd like you can come with us...see what the human version of...Kheelah...is like."

He considered this for a moment, before bringing out his morpher, recalling his Silver Spear.

"Just give me a while to get washed up." He told her, before leaving. Kat just smiled.

"Tea, is there anything it can't do?" He asked.

Meanwhile, the Voice was still in hiding, biding his time after his defeat. His last monster, Mr Brainfreeze had been startlingly effective, even more so than he had originally thought. He had the Rangers on the ropes for a time; it was only the monster's limitations in its weakness to heat that had finally been the deciding factor.

He was considering his next move, when he heard a loud crash, and the wall fell in. He turned on the spot, seeing Argus, and a small contingent of Bruisers entering the room. He snorted to see the uninvited guests.

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't a social visit?" He asked.

"One as powerful as you should be in the service of our Prince." Argus stated flatly. "We were sent to bring you to our ship."

"No thank you." The Voice responded. "I have no desire to step aboard your ship."

"We were sent to bring you one way or another." Argus responded bluntly, drawing his sword. "We would advise you to come willingly."

"Thanks for the advice." He responded, levelling his Z-staff their way, and unleashing a huge power blast. By the time the smoke cleared, he was gone.

"His energy signature is still strong, he can't have gone far." Argus stated. "Fan out and find him!"

Elsewhere in the city, the Rangers were sitting around a table in a high-end tea room. Kat normally didn't spring for luxuries like this, but since the Rangers had given her easily enough to cover her expenses for a while until she was back on her feet, she figured there was no harm in taking them to the place that had the reputation as the best tea room in the area. The Rangers were no strangers to coffee shops back home, and knew that some places took their selections very seriously. It wasn't unheard of for some places to have literally dozens of different types of beans and blends to choose from. It never occurred to the Rangers that there would be anything like the same kind of options for a drink that was essentially just boiled dried leaves.

The entire back wall of the cafe was lined with containers, housing different types of leaves. The tables were covered in pristine white table cloths, and the drinks and snacks were served on patterned fine china. The Rangers' table had a large stand on the centre, which carried a huge selection of cakes to choose from, but more remarkably had several tea pots on it. They were attracting a fair bit of interest from other patrons and staff members...mainly because Orion was now on his fifth blend.

"Um...you might want to slow down on that stuff." Gia warned him. "There's a lot of caffeine in those."

"So says the girl who can barely move until she has her first coffee of the day." Emma chuckled. Gia just glared at her.

"These are amazing." Orion mumbled through a mouthful of scone, topped with cream and strawberry jam. "I've had...what was it you called this...tea...back home, but nothing like this."

"You had tea back home?" Jake asked him.

"Apparently they sometimes used it as part of their services." Kat stated. Orion looked to Emma as he heard Kat say this. The Pink Ranger looked a little uncomfortable hearing this. As he looked to the tea in his cup, thinking of how it meant more to him than just a warm drink, but as a reminder of home, he started to think about his conversation with Emma before. Orion was about to say something, when they heard a commotion out in the street. They looked among each other, before shaking their heads in disbelief.

"I guess even a tea break is out of the question these days." Gia complained.

"I'll deal with the tab." Kat assured them. "You guys go, ahead. I'll get myself home."

"Come on guys!" Troy announced as they all got up and ran out of the room. Kat watched them go as the waitress came over.

"Um...you know kids today, always rushing off somewhere." Kat commented. The waitress just shook her head, and started clearing away the abandoned cups as Kat took a casual sip from her own cup.

Elsewhere in the city, in the middle of the street, the Rangers arrived to find the wreckage of some Bruisers, and some panicking citizens running for their lives. They looked up as they heard a blast from a little way off, only to see Argus tumbling away, his armour smoking.

"What's the deal?" Gia asked. "It looks like someone's already fighting them."

"Yeah, but...who?" Jake asked. As Argus got back to his feet, they could see he was not only holding his sword, but in his other hand, he was holding half of the Z-staff.

"OK, it's our new pain in the ass." Noah commented. "It kind of makes it hard to know which side to root for."

"It doesn't matter which side wins, they're levelling the place in the process." Troy told them. "Orion, Noah, you guys keep Argus busy. We'll deal with the other guy."

Orion and Noah both morphed, rushing Argus and beginning their attack, the others all morphed as they headed into the ruined building. Some rubble started to move, shifting and falling away as someone got up. In his hand, he was holding the other half of the Z-staff. The four Rangers all looked on as they saw an all too familiar face.

"Vrak." Troy sighed. "I might have known it was you."

"It looks like you still had some of Lord Zedd's old toys." Jake remarked. "But by the looks of it, it's broken."

"Give it up Vrak." Gia told him. Vrak just laughed.

"I don't think so." He told them. "It'll take more than that sword-swinging tin can to finish me."

"Give it up, that staff is broken." Emma told him.

"Maybe, but it still has enough power for one last monster." He stated as he held up a Bearskin hat he had kept from his attack on Buckingham Palace. He threw it in the air, and zapped it with the last of the energy from the broken staff, before teleporting away.

"Great, now he's back." Gia complained.

"One problem at a time guys." Troy answered as he levelled his pistol in the direction of the latest monster. "Let's deal with one problem at a time."


	9. The Bear Necessities

Orion and Noah fought with Argus, taking him away from the main battle to keep him away. The robotic swordsman matched them move for move with frightening speed as they struggled to land a telling blow.

"You are in my way Rangers." He told them matter-of-factly. "I have a mission for my Prince! I do not have time for you!"

"Yeah, well when you and some random sparring partner tear apart a city, we kind of feel compelled to get involved." Noah responded. "We're kind of a nuisance that way!"

"We don't care what your mission for your Prince is! If you side with him, you've chosen destruction!" Orion snarled as he surged forward, trying to thrust his Silver Spear into his foe. Argus leapt clear, throwing out a power wave with his sword, forcing the two of them to separate as it smashed up the concrete between them, the heat from his solar flare wave sending some molten tar spraying outwards.

"The Prince is the rightful heir to the empire! All he sees is his to command!" Argus responded. "Submit to his mercy!"

"I've seen the Prince's mercy first-hand!" Orion replied as they renewed their attack. "And I intend to repay him and everyone that follows him in kind! For Andresia!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the Rangers faced their own battle. As a parting gift, having finally revealed that he was back, Vrak had created another monster with the remaining power of Lord Zedd's broken Z-staff. This time, it had been created from a Bearskin hat he had taken from the wreckage after the battle at Buckingham Palace.

Troy hit the ground hard, concrete splintering under the impact as the creature slammed him into the middle of the street. It was around seven feet tall, and covered in black fur, with huge tree-trunk like arms that ended in long, razor-sharp claws. As it reared up on its hind legs and bellowed out a huge roar that shook the street, he revealed massive fangs that looked like they would easily liberate a limb from its host body given a chance.

"OK, how exactly did a hat become a nine hundred pound teddy bear?" Jake asked as he opened fire on it with his pistol.

"The hats worn by the Scot's Guard aren't called Bearskins for nothing." Gia explained. "They still make them out of real bear skin."

Emma just looked her way. Gia shrugged.

"I picked up a tour guide!" She said defensively.

"OK, whatever, we need to keep Yogi from levelling the whole city!" Troy replied as he got up, levelling his blaster the bear's way. "We know he's strong, let's keep our distance for now!"

They all opened fire, but the shots seemed to do very little. If anything, all it seemed to do was make the enraged monster even angrier. It slammed its fists into the ground, shaking the whole street, causing glass and stone to rain down into the street from damaged buildings.

"OK, this isn't working!" Jake stated. "We just seem to be pissing Yogi off!"

"A bear's hide is really strong, it's basically like Kevlar!" Gia told them. "They need to use high-powered rifles to take them down. If this monster's basically like a more powerful version of a bear..."

"OK, seriously, is there anything you DON'T know?" Jake asked as they continued to pour on the firepower.

They watched as the bear monster reared back its hand, and a large clay pot appeared. Jake just narrowed his eyes.

"OK, what now?" Jake asked. The bear threw the pot at them, where it shattered, spraying them with a kind of thick, sticky honey, gumming up their guns.

"OK, that kind of..." Jake's words tailed off as they heard a buzzing sound. "Oh, you have got to be kidding!"

"If you use honey, you get..."

The bear roared, at which it unleashed a cloud of angry, buzzing bees, each one the size of a small bird.

"Oh, this is gonna suck!" Gia complained as they Rangers found themselves swarmed by angry, stinging bees.

Over at the site of their own battle, Noah and Orion were barely keeping pace with Argus. He was easily the strongest swordsman Noah had ever faced, possibly the strongest in existence. While Skatanna had been powerful, he had two major downfalls. The first was his arrogance, and the other...Noah still couldn't help remembering the first time he had faced Argus, finding out he had been the one that trained Skatanna. The fact he was currently holding off two Rangers seemed to back up his claims of his strength.

"He's good!" Noah conceded. "We need to think about this."

"You think, I'll turn him into molten scrap!" Orion told him. Noah just grabbed him to stop him.

"Look, I have an idea." Noah told him. "Just...head out that way and get your key ready for your Shining Spear attack and follow my lead."

Noah broke into a run, straight for Argus, turning his Blue Samurai Key in his morpher, and turning into the Blue Samurai Ranger. Argus prepared for his attack.

"Do you think your little switch up games will defeat me?" He asked, parrying Noah's blows. Noah slammed a Power Disk onto his sword, charging his blade with power as he attacked with everything he had. Argus found a response for everything, his advanced technology being able to read Noah's moves like he was moving in slow motion. "You're not the only one that's been studying since last time. I knew it was a matter of time before you would seek a re-match."

"I guess I should be flattered." Noah replied. Argus shoved Noah back, slashing him across the chest, before he could regain his balance. Noah rolled away from him, facing off against him. Noah took off his helmet as he got up, preparing for the attack.

"I've studied you in preparation for facing you again." He informed him. "I know every one of your tricks, every one of your previous forms Blue Ranger."

"That's what I'm counting on." Noah said as he rushed towards him. He hooked his blade with Argus', holding both of them so he couldn't attack. "You see, you forgot one important thing."

Argus could only watch as Noah held up the morpher, with another Ranger Key in it, raising it towards his face.

"I'm not just a BLUE Ranger!" He snapped. He turned the key with his teeth, transforming into the Red Samurai Ranger. He unhooked his sword and in one swift move, slammed a power disk into it, and cast a fireball into Argus' face at point-blank range, straight into his one eye. Sparks flew from his optics, and his hands flew up to his face.

"It worked!" Noah called out. "NOW!"

Orion leapt from his new location, launching his Shining Silver Spear attack, straight for Argus. Unable to see it coming, the spear went straight through his chest, impaling him, and a massive explosion ripped through the area. Noah and Orion both smiled as they saw this, but after a moment, the smoke started to clear. Both of them looked on in disbelief as they saw that Argus had not been destroyed. He was damaged, but he remained upright, with the Silver Spear lodged in his chest. His face plate was scorched, but his optics were beginning to come back online. He grabbed the shaft of the Silver Spear, and started to pull it out.

"But...I...I put everything into that!" He stammered. "He should be destroyed!"

"Do you really think that toothpick will defeat me?" He asked. Orion just froze as he heard him say this.

"What did you say?" He asked. Argus threw the spear, knocking Orion clean off his feet with it. He hit Noah with a Solar Flare attack, leaving him lying on the ground. It was then that an internal alert came up on his display. He was still working, but his systems were badly damaged, and he was running the risk of another powerful attack taking him out. He received new orders to return to base for repairs.

"We will meet again." Argus stated as he stood over them, preparing to teleport out. He looked to Orion. "Perhaps next time you can use a REAL weapon."

With that, he disappeared. Noah and Orion got up to their feet.

"Well, that went better than expected." Noah said with absolutely no hint of irony. He had a feeling that Argus, a lieutenant that Vekar rarely used as anything other than a personal bodyguard was likely too powerful to be destroyed so easily. He knew enough about Vekar to know he would probably keep all his best toys to himself if he didn't have to risk them. "We should get back to the others."

As he started to run, he couldn't help noticing that Orion wasn't moving, still staring down the street where Argus had disappeared.

"ORION!" Noah called to him. "He's gone! We can't do anything about him right now, but the others need our help!"

Orion just bent down, picking up his Silver Spear, and turning, walking towards Noah.

"You're right." He said in a quiet voice. "We should help the others."

Back at their own battle, the Rangers were struggling under the assault of the swarm of mutant bees. Their constant stinging was agony, and the swarm made it near impossible to fight them off. Eventually, a huge fireball erupted, incinerating the bees, leaving Troy standing in the centre of the group, having changed into the Red Mystic Ranger. Noah and Orion arrived in time to see them, and started helping the others up.

"OK, how much do I love Super Legend Mode?" Jake grumbled as he got up.

"What happened?" Noah asked.

"Big bear, honey, bees, Vrak...long story." Emma told them.

"We can catch them up later." Troy stated. "For now we need to find that bear."

"Uh...not exactly going to be an issue." Gia replied, flicking a thumb down a street. There was a path of destruction that was pretty hard to dispute leading away from them, along with an all too familiar combination of screams, explosions and sirens.

"It looks like he's heading for..." Emma picked up a street sign that had been knocked down, and checked it. "It looks like he's heading for Hyde Park."

"Maybe he's looking for pic-a-nic baskets." Jake suggested with a chuckle the others just looked at him.

"Really Jake?" Gia asked.

"Well, these Rangers aren't just going to tell him off." Troy replied. "Come on, let's put Yogi in his place."

As they ran off, heading for the park, Orion looked to Gia.

"Yogi, picnic baskets...what are they talking about?" He asked her.

"I'll explain later." She told him.

At that moment, Argus was in Lavira's laboratory for repairs. As she was working, Damaras came into the room.

"It seems we underestimated the Rangers' power." He commented. "It's been a long time since he's taken this kind of damage."

"He'll be back on his feet in a few hours." Lavira assured him. "Don't worry; you'll have your weapon back in no time."

"Yes, well...the Prince has requested your presence in his chambers." He told her. Lavira just sighed.

"What is it? Does he need his pillows fluffed?" She asked. "Or is it a bedtime story he wants?"

"I didn't think to ask." Damaras told her. She just sighed and got up, leaving the room. Damaras waited until she was gone, before turning Argus on. The android looked up to him.

"Don't worry, you're being repaired." Damaras told him. "I just turned on your speech centre; I need to hear what happened."

"You know what happened." Argus stated. "Vrak was behind it all."

"Vrak?" Damaras asked him. "I'm sure you're mistaken, he was destroyed before the invasion."

"He lives; he is the one that sent the ice-cream monster." Argus stated.

"Oh, and if that's true, why wouldn't he return to the service of his brother?" Damaras asked.

"I believe that he plans to seize power for himself." Argus replied. "It is the only reason I can think of he would not return when he knows the Prince is here."

"That is a compelling case." Damaras replied. "Now, don't worry, we'll soon return you to service."

He turned Argus off, and went to a console, activating a command to eliminate the last several hours of his memory. He pulled out a communicator and opened up a channel.

"It's done." Damaras stated. "I've done as we agreed."

"Thank you Damaras." Vrak responded as he returned to his base, the ruins of the underwater base he had created with Metal Alice. "It's not like my precious brother tried too hard to find me before, if he wishes to believe me dead, then that serves my purposes just fine."

"Glad I could be of service." Damaras answered as he cut off the link. Vrak just smiled as he continued down the corridor. He got to the main room, finding to his surprise that it was already lit up. The monitors were on, and they were tracking different points of the globe. His throne was turned away, viewing the main screen.

He started to approach, only to have a massive arm block his path. Following it up, he saw the hulking form of Kolo standing, casting an awe-inspiring shadow over him. As he looked up, he saw the Shadow Ranger pouring wine into a goblet, before holding it out. A hand adorned with numerous large, gaudy rings took it from him.

"A bear, that was an...interesting choice." Lafitte said casually as the Kat Ranger came towards him, carrying a large, silver tray full of fruit. He took a long sip. "Personally I always preferred primates myself. I find they are more...cerebral."

"I see you've made yourself at home." Vrak commented as he swept Kolo's arm aside and started to make his way towards him. "That is quite an imposition considering your failure to bring back the Ranger Keys I asked you to get."

"I ran into some complications." Lafitte told him. "A disgruntled former employee, it is a small matter I shall rectify."

"The Rangers could not leave Earth, the Aquitarians, the Miranoians and the Karnovians had no Ranger powers! I practically gift-wrapped those keys for you and you let them slip between your fingers!" Vrak said angrily. He was about to come closer, but stopped as he heard others in the shadows. The Wolf Warrior, the White Mystic Ranger, the Black Lion Warrior and the Sentinel Knight all stepped into view, their weapons at the ready.

"And you let the power of Lord Zedd be taken from you by your brother's tin soldier." Lafitte replied. "I still have an army, what do you have?"

"I have what I always promised you." Vrak told him. "Once I have control, once I have the power that should be mine by right, I will have all the power in the empire to reward any who assisted me."

He moved a little closer.

"The price on your head is so high that you cannot show your face in many systems." Vrak reminded him. "Once I rule the empire, I will grant you a full pardon as we agreed. Won't it be easier to raid and plunder without the entire Armada on your tail? You can live out your days stealing all the candy from all the babies you want for all I care."

"So, all I need to do is rid you of your Ranger problem." Lafitte responded. "Then you will use MY army to depose your brother."

"We share a mother." Vrak snorted. "That snivelling spoiled brat is no brother of mine."

"Well, your family aside...I can't deny my enterprises will be more profitable with you at the helm than your brother." Lafitte told him, downing the last of his wine. "So for now, our bargain remains intact. I will deliver your Ranger army."

"I need reassurances that this time you will not go in half-hearted like before." Vrak told him. Lafitte threw his goblet over his shoulder, where the Shadow Ranger caught it. He turned in the throne towards Vrak, who was momentarily blinded by a flash of light. As he looked up, he saw that Lafitte had transformed.

"My former crew mate stole from me." Lafitte told him. "This time, there will be no kid gloves."

"That's what I like to here." Vrak said with a smile, feeling the power of Lafitte's true form. "For now, let us see what you're up against."

Lafitte turned the throne back, returning to his human form as the Magna Defender fetched another chair for Vrak. The Shadow Ranger offered both of them another goblet of wine.

"The wine really is excellent." Lafitte assured him. "You should know, you're paying for it."

Vrak just sat with him as they watched the screen, clutching his goblet of wine.


	10. Strength and Faith

The battle at Hyde Park was fierce, so fierce that there wasn't a single person that wasn't a Ranger within ten city blocks of the park.

None of the Rangers knew how long they had been fighting as the heavens opened up. They only knew that the sun was still up when the battle started, but now it was gone, plunging the park into darkness.

As the bear monster hoisted Gia above its head, Orion pulled himself to his feet, coated in mud. They'd exhausted pretty much their whole arsenal of Ranger keys on it, and by now Orion was getting fed up of seeing it come back. Cursing and swearing in his native tongue as he approached, he readied his Silver Spear into blaster mode. Where she was lying in the mud, Emma could see him throw off his helmet, and despite the fact his eyes were almost completely white, she could still see the fury in them.

He barked and spat as he approached in his unintelligible native language. Still, Emma could guess the context of what he was saying. She had studied enough of Andresian faith...the Faith of the Earth Gods, to know that his fury, and his vengeance was more than just personal, but that it was spiritual, that he was willing to damn those he defeated when he could. She watched as he fired his Silver Spear Blaster, and even though it ripped itself from his hand, and sent him somersaulting through the air almost twenty feet, as soon as he was up, he looked to the creature. Its head had vanished, completely obliterated by the blast.

She saw that despite this though, Orion was on his feet, and still making his way towards the creature. He bent down low, picking up his blaster. She had no idea what he was saying, but she could guess its content, seeing the tears streaming down his face. She tried to get up, and her muscles failed her at first. As he fired off another blast, hitting the corpse and sending pieces all over the place, she forced herself with more, so much more than physical strength, with everything she had in her.

Emma had seen sadness in her life. She didn't claim she had more right to complain than anyone else, but the fact was, by the time she was ten years old, her mother, the woman who had shaped her whole life, the woman who gave her all her beliefs and taught her the beauty of the world, told her that she had contracted cancer. Emma didn't really know or understand what had happened, all she knew was that something bad had gotten into her mother, and grew inside her. By the time she knew, it was already too late. By the time Emma was 11, her mother was taken from her by the terrible blight.

Emma was not a person of faith. She wasn't really sure what she believed in, or if she had faith at all, but all she knew was she was in awe of the universe. She believed in the Earth, and its resilience. No matter what happened to it, the Earth had existed for millions of years before a single human walked its surface, and she was confident it would exist long after the time of humans ended. Still, she had some idea what faith was. She could remember a fight that she had with Jordan long ago. She believed in dreams, something her mother had taught her, that dreams were something to reach for and believe in. He had mocked that belief, and she took it personally. It was as if he was attacking the core of her being, her belief in her dreams was something that Emma had learned from her mother, a now-absent being that she still idolised and aspired to emulate. Her physical strength was gone, she had no idea what brought her to her feet. She searched her mind; her heart, everything, and something finally came to her, one word in Andresian she knew that made any sense.

"_Stop!_" She screamed, putting herself before Orion. He looked to her, and screamed at her in Andresian.

"I don't understand you!" She screamed at him. Orion looked to her, and pulled off his helmet. She could see in his eyes he was looking for a translation. "NO, I don't understand YOU!"

He just stared at her.

"He's gone Orion, his threat has ended!" She told him. "There's no need..."

"He has no entitlement to a merciful or peaceful end!" He yelled, raising his blaster again. Emma shoved it down.

"He was made from a hat Orion; did IT deserve to be destroyed?" She asked him. "What about the bear it was made from? Doesn't it deserve to return to the Earth?"

Orion paused for a moment, thinking about what she said. It was true, the battle was over, but all he could think about was incinerating every millimetre of the Bear Monster, to ensure it would never return to the Mother Andresia. He pointed the blaster at it once more, but this time, Emma moved to stand directly in front of the barrel. Orion started to say something.

"I don't understand Orion, and I don't just mean Andresian!" She yelled at him. "Your faith demands the burial of the dead!"

He didn't flinch as she said this. Instead, he could only think of one thing. He had enjoyed tea with the others. To him, it was something he could remember being part of the rites he enjoyed with the prayer readers back home. To the Earthlings, it was also present, and the time with the Rangers at the cafe had reminded him of chantries back home. With members of his mining team at rituals. He now realised that there were similarities between Earth and Andresia, that they perhaps weren't so different. He realised now that perhaps Emma hadn't meant any disrespect when she told him she studied his faith.

"That monster..."

"The monster is gone!" Emma reiterated. "What's left is what was there before, a bear that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. What did it do to deserve your damnation?"

Orion took the key out of his blaster as he put it away.

"We should tend to the others." He responded. "We should turn our rudder to this place before another creature shows up. They are seeking us after all."

Emma just nodded as he picked up Noah, throwing him over his shoulder like he was a blanket. Working in the mines back home, his strength was more than enough to carry the young Ranger unhindered.

It was a long time later, the Rangers had left London, and the UK far behind, sending the ship far enough before cloaking that they were confident that The Armada would be convinced they were really gone.

At least...those that were active did. Only Emma and Orion were up and about at the time. Most of the others had been medicated and left to sleep off the worst of their injuries below decks. Orion was up on deck, sitting with Tensou as Emma arrived. She had been on navigation duty since Troy was out of action, but since they hadn't actually figured out a new destination, there really wasn't much to do that the auto pilot couldn't handle. As she got onto the deck, once they were at a decent cruising height and velocity, she found Orion looking out over the edge, with Tensou next to him. Both of them were speaking in Andresian. She hated that in some ways, she hated the fact she could only understand snippets of what they were saying, but that wasn't the main thing. It was something that brought comfort to Orion, that there was someone who spoke his language fluently, but in some ways it also distanced him from the others. Gia knew some Andresian...Emma had picked up a word or two through context...the others...she had no idea. All she knew was that none of them were fluent, and so when Orion spoke Andresian, he was losing them.

She saw that Tensou saw her, before he said something and flew away. By context, she presumed he excused himself in Andresian. Orion just sighed as he leant on the rail.

"I owe you an..." He paused as he thought about it. Emma never considered this before as she saw the awkward look on his face. He had spoken in English very well for so long, sometimes it escaped them that strictly speaking it was a second language to him. "I would like to say...I realise I was wrong to shout at you before."

"I didn't mean to insult you." Emma told him. He just nodded.

"I know...I spoke with Tensou about you since we left." He told her. She just looked at him. "He...he explained some things about you."

"So it's alright for you to research me, but I can't research you?" Emma teased him. He chuckled.

"I believe you call that sarcasm." He told her. "My friends at the quarry...we passed the time with such jokes back home."

He approached her as he thought about what to say. Emma held up a hand to stop him, and sighed.

"My mom died when I was young, she died of cancer." She informed him. "Do you know what that is?"

"We had another name for it, but yes, I understand." Orion replied. Emma just nodded.

"She was my whole world. I idolised her, I shaped my whole life around her." Emma continued. "I miss her to this day. Sometimes, sometimes when I'm alone, I like to think about her, and what she would think about all of this."

She looked to him and smiled.

"I don't claim for one second to know what you feel." She told him. "So...perhaps you could tell me."

"I feel angry." He stated bluntly. "Not just with enemies...I feel anger all the time, like it is the very thing that wills me to wake up in the morning."

"Orion..."

"I had a LIFE!" He snapped before she could finish. "I had friends, a family...I had brothers and sisters..."

"You did?" Emma asked.

"I buried them all!" He roared. "My fingers bled because The Armada left no tools intact for me to bury them, but I saw every last one of them returned to Andresia with every ounce of strength I had, and then I prayed to the Gods for guidance."

Emma approached him slowly.

"Faith is a powerful thing, it can keep us going in the darkest of times, and through the worst of storms." Emma told him. "But we always have to have the wisdom to seek the teachings within that faith, and not to allow it to become all that we are, and to confuse things. Faith is strong enough to will someone to live beyond their time, but it is also powerful enough to blind us to certain truths."

"Like what?" Orion asked her. Emma put an arm around him.

"Alex spoke to you in Andresian." She reminded him. Orion just looked to her. "From the way he said it, it didn't sound rehearsed. He said it like he knew what he was saying."

"So?" Orion asked.

"Alex came back from the year 3012!" Emma reminded him. "So apparently some people are still speaking Andresian in a thousand years."

She smiled as she prepared to leave him.

"I think we have some Earl Grey." She told him. As she left, Orion couldn't help thinking about what she said. Why would people still be speaking Andresian in a millennia?

Fin.

**A/N: **This chapter cut out a lot of action...but I really wanted to focus on the Orion/Emma interactions, and the faith aspect. Sorry if the ending was a little dry. More coming soon.


End file.
